Samantha Stosur has battled her way through to the second round of the WTA event in Charleston, South Carolina.
The 10th-seeded Australian saved 16 break points in the 6-4 6-4 win over world No.124 Aleksandra Krunic on Monday, in a match that lasted an hour and 39 minutes.
World No.26 Stosur, who won the event in 2010 and made the semi-finals in 2012, struggled with strong winds as she was broken four times and sent down 11 double faults in the topsy-turvy performance.
"My tennis could have been a little bit better, and my serve especially," said Stosur, who will now face Slovakian Jana Cepelova in the second round.
"Whether it was the conditions, a bit of lack of focus at times, whatever the case, it's certainly something that I need to rectify for the next round."
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber moved into the third round after surviving a third-set tiebreak to beat Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-3).
The defending champion lost the first point of the decider before running off the next four to seize control.
"After the first set, she was fighting. She is a great player and a great clay court player," Kerber said.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia saved four match points before ousting 11th seed Kristina Mladenovic 4-6 6-4 7-6, prevailing 13-11 in the tie-break to also reach the third round.
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