Samantha Stosur wins opener in Qatar

Samantha Stosur has made a winning start at the Qatar Open, beating Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 7-5 6-4.

World No.21 Stosur, who elected to skip the Fed Cup for Australia, took an early break and raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set in Doha.

The 32-year-old Australian gave it back just as quickly though.

Her forehand, which helped her achieve the break, went awry as she made a string of errors to allow world No.35 Sevastova to break back and level at 4-4.

Stosur was forced to rely on her serve to get her out of trouble before Sevastova gave up the first set with a double fault.

The pair held serve in the second set, with Stosur doing well to stave off three break points in the fifth game before taking a 3-2 lead.

Rain halted play for two hours with the Australian leading 4-3 before Stosur closed out the match, needing 11 minutes after the delay.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!