Tournament top seed Elena Dementieva was slow out of the blocks against Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan, finding herself 0-4 down in the first set with Chan nailing every groundstroke. The Russian had to find top gear quickly or she was going to be blown off court by the Taiwanese girl's powerful game.
She rose to the occasion like a true champion and brought the crowd to their feet as she first matched then bettered Chan's heavy forehands. It was inspired stuff from the Olympic gold medalist, and the momentum carried her to a 7-5 6-3 victory.
"In the first set, I was just trying to stay positive," she said. "In the first game of the year you have to be prepared to try things, go for the lines." That policy made for an exciting spectacle.
Earlier, delighting all Auckland vikings, Danish second seed Caroline Wozniacki made short work of Italian qualifier Alberta Brianti, 6-1 6-0. Having one of the two top guns already banked for the second round was some reassurance to the nervous-looking tournament staff, during Dementieva's early stutters.
After both seeds were safe, local hope Marina Erakovic guaranteed even more intense interest by beating Nuria Llagostera Vives in straight sets 7-5 6-4, but there was nothing certain about that result until Erakovic finally put the tenacious Spaniard away.
"I didn't know anything about her until last night, but I soon found out how tough she was," said Erakovic, referring a little sheepishly to her doubles loss the night before, when Llagostera Vives and a compatriot had tipped the New Zealander and her American partner Jill Craybas out of that competition.
Reminded that she had escaped from 15-40 down three times in her singles match, and congratulated for composure, Erakovic blushed. "I didn't feel very composed... but my serve saved me today." All her gutsy talent was on display, not just the serve, but Erakovic will need to reduce her error rate if she harbours any real ambition for the title, especially considering she faces the top seed today.
In other Tuesday matches, eighth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-4 6-0, top British player Anne Keothavong ousted Croatian wild card Mirjana Lucic 6-4 6-2, Dementieva's Russian doubles partner Elena Vesnina wiped the court with Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-1 6-0 while another Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita upset Marta Domachowska of Poland 6-4 4-6 6-4.
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