Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina defeated Madison Keys to etch her name among the winners as the main draw of the Ostrava Open began.
Rybakina, who was coming off losses to Keys at the French Open and Cincinnati this year, had to once again battle back from a set down to seal a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
The Russian-born Kazakh failed to save the only breakpoint of a close first set to fall behind before finding her rhythm in the second. She broke the American twice to level the match before a similar story followed in the decider.
The win over Keys at the Ostrava Open was the first time Rybakina has beaten the former US Open finalist in three attempts.
Joining her among the winners on the first day of the WTA 500 event was hometown hope Petra Kvitová who overcame American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Zhang Shuai of China 6-3, 6-3 to continue what has been a remarkable year for her career. She will next face the tournament’s no.1 seed, Iga Swiatek, in the next round.
Ekaterina Alexandrova, arguably, delivered the biggest upset of the day by eliminating two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Tereza Martincová also got her campaign off to a promising start with a 7-6, 7-6 win over Jil Teichmann.
The tournament continues with Emma Radaucanu, Daria Kastakina, Jeļena Ostapenko, Belinda Bencic, Eugenie Bouchard and Karolína Plíšková all set to take the courts today.
