Australian Anastasia Rodionova is through to the second round of the Moorilla Hobart International after a 6-4 7-5 victory over Hungary’s Greta Arn.
Wildcard Rodionova took full advantage of a poor serving performance from veteran world No.63 Arn in windy conditions at the Domain Tennis Centre.
Rodionova, the world No.108, could next meet compatriot Jarmila Gajdosova who plays Japan’s Ayumi Morita on Monday night.
The Russian-born 29-year-old converted her second match-point in a tough encounter that lasted one hour and 40 minutes.
Earlier, former world No.5 Anna Chakvetadze, playing her first match since June last year, cruised past third seed Monica Niculescu in straight sets.
The 2007 champion won 6-0 6-4 as she embarks on her latest comeback after a series of setbacks since making the US Open semi-finals and reaching her career-high ranking in the same year.
Chakvetadze was broken just once but ground it out to take the second set and beat the Romanian in one hour, 15 minutes.
The 24-year-old endured a frightening break-in at her Moscow home in 2007 before illness and injury meant her ranking has slipped to No.235.
She collapsed playing Caroline Wozniacki in Dubai last year and had last played when ousted by compatriot Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon last June.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” she said.
“I had some problems with the close of the match but I didn’t play for such a long time so it’s not a big deal.”