Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez rallied from a set down to beat Roberta Vinci of Italy [Images] 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha, on Tuesday.
The Spaniard, ranked 37 in the world, now meets world number five and third seed Anastasia Myskina [Images], champion in Doha for the last two years.
Top seed Amelie Mauresmo, number two seed Maria Sharapova [Images] and fourth seed Alicia Molik [Images] will also take to the court on Wednesday after first round byes.
"I needed to change the pace of my shots. I was playing quite low in the beginning," Martinez said. "Only when I started mixing it up things began to happen in my favour."
Looking ahead to the Myskina clash, she said: "She [Myskina] is a great player and I am sure it will be a tough match. I know I will have to fight for every ball."
In other first round matches, Australian Nicole Pratt beat Selima Sfar of Tunisia 7-5, 6-2 while Japan's [Images] Ai Sugiyama defeated Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.
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