World number one Iga Swiatek overcame a tricky opening round test against Tatjana Maria 5-7 6-2 6-0 in Bad Homburg.
Swiatek began her grass court season in Germany and for the first set didn’t have it all her own way.
However the Roland Garros champion produced a stunning last two sets to defeat last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist and reach the second round in Bad Homburg.
Maria only landed back in Germany a few hours earlier after reaching an ITF final in Italy but began the match in strong fashion.
However fatigue became a problem for Maria which allowed Swiatek to take advantage and seal victory.
After the match Swiatek admitted it was a ‘tricky’ opening round test, “She has a different game style and at the beginning it was tricky,” Swiatek told the WTA website.
“But I’m pretty glad that I figured it out because I guess problem-solving on grass is the most important thing. So I really just wanted to look forward and thank what I could change. I know I have the game for that. I just had to find it a little bit.”
Swiatek’s 36th win of the 2023 season means she is into the second round to take on Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.
Meanwhile in the other big match of the day, Bianca Andreescu survived a big scare to defeat Britain’s Sonay Kartal in three sets.
Andreescu, who reached the final in Bad Homburg last year, struggled for consistency against Kartal but edged through 6-2 3-6 7-5 in nearly two and a half hours.
Now Andreescu will face Spain’s Rebeka Masarova in the second round.
