PARIS(AP) Li Na of China advanced to the second round of the Open GDF Suez on Monday by beating last year's finalist Agnes Szavay of Hungary 7-6 (6), 6-2.
In a back-and-forth first set, Li raced out to a 3-0 lead before Szavay bounced back to win the next five games. Szavay, however, double faulted on two set points at 5-4, and then added three more double faults to give Li a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker.
The Hungarian then saved four set points before Li converted her fifth with a forehand winner.
Li dominated the second set, breaking Szavay twice before converting her third match point when her opponent made an unforced error.
It was Li's first match of the season after undergoing surgery on her right knee.
It was tough for me,'' Li said.My last tournament was Luxembourg last year. I haven't played a match for three months. I was a little bit nervous and excited. There was a lot of fighting in my mind. I didn't know what I could do.''
Also Monday, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia outlasted the seventh-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Virginie Razzano of France 6-4, 6-1.
Kanepi wasted five match points at 5-4 in the final set, before sealing the match with a forehand winner at the net.
The 17-year-old Pavlyuchenkova converted all three of her break points in the second set to cruise to victory.