Russian Elena Vesnina credits her experience with Auckland’s wind to help her advance to the ASB Classic tennis second round for the fifth consecutive time.
Vesnina was given a tough first set by Canadian wildcard Eugenie Bouchard, but adapted to the conditions best in the second set to win 7-5 6-3.
The 18-year-old Canadian competed well at the start but seemed to lose her composure with wind gusts causing both players to struggle with fluency.
“I’m an old lady compared with Eugenie so I have to have some experience to help me, and last year when I played we had exactly the same situation and I didn’t change my serve,” the 26-year-old Russian said.
“Now maybe I learned that lesson. I started tossing the ball a little bit lower and it helped me a lot.”
Vesnina will play either sixth seed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan or Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain in the second round.
Fast-improving Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens is a player to watch after she beat two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The 21-year-old Bertens lost a first-set tiebreaker against Kuznetsova, who came into the tournament unseeded after missing the second half of 2012 through injury.
But the powerful Bertens kept her nerve, handling the wind well to beat the former French and US Open champion 6-7 6-2 7-5.
“I played a really good first set but I also made a lot of mistakes,” said Bertens, who improved 120 rankings places to No.63 in 2012.
“In the second set I just played a little bit better and made less mistakes.”
Bertens’ second round opponent will be the winner of Tuesday’s match between fifth seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Britain’s Heather Watson.
American Christina McHale was the first seed to drop out of the tournament, losing 6-4 6-1 to France’s Pauline Parmentier, who didn’t allow McHale a break point.
Third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium is safely through, beating Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 6-2.
Other winners were former champion Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, Johanna Larsson of Sweden and Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.