Samantha Stosur believes she is edging closer to her best form after advancing to the second round of the Hong Kong Open.
The 33-year-old former US Open champion, who has been sidelined for two months due to a wrist injury, was made to work hard to beat Taiwan's Lee Ya-Hsuan 6-3 4-6 6-1.
It was her second win since returning to action last week and the Queenslander said she was delighted with how she closes out the match having surrendered the second set to the world No.302.
I played pretty well, especially in the third set when I took the lead and didn't let go," Stosur said.
"I was able to finish the match quickly.
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"She was hitting well and had nothing to lose. I really stepped it up in the third. If I play like I did in that last set, I'll be happy."
Stosur fired a winner down the line to reach the second round on her first match point and overcame seven double-faults as she broke six times while losing her own serve on three occasions.
Although she admitted she is still not fully fit after a layoff that saw her miss Wimbledon and the US Open, Stosur said she is just happy to be back out on court.
"I didn't hit a ball for eight weeks, that's the longest I can remember being off court," she said.
"But now I'm not quite back to 100 per cent. I can train now and not think of the injury.
"It will still take some more work to get back to 100 per cent form."
Lizette Cabrera joined her fellow Queenslander in the second round, beating Shuko Aoyama of Japan 7-5 6-3.
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina heads the field at Victoria Park, with Venus Williams seeded second and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki third.
