BAD GASTEIN, Austria — Samantha Stosur made hard work of a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the opening round of the Gastein Ladies on Tuesday.<br><br>
The 23rd-ranked Australian, who is seeded second, dropped her opening service game but reeled off four straight games from 2-4 down. Sevastova broke again in the opening game of the second set and held on to take it before Stosur dominated the final set.<br><br>
Sevastova, who came out of retirement this season, had beaten Stosur in their only previous match — at the China Open in 2010, when Stosur was ranked seventh.<br><br>
Former champion Julia Goerges defeated Risa Ozaki of Japan 6-3, 6-4. The sixth-seeded German, who won the clay-court event in 2010, missed a match point at 5-3 in the second set and needed three more chances to close out the victory in the next game.<br><br>
Goerges will next play Daria Kasatkina of Russia, who beat Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3, 6-1.<br><br>
Karin Knapp saved three match points against Tamira Paszek of Austria before sealing a 6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6) win. The third-seeded Italian conceded just five points in the opening set but missed two match points in the second. She was 4-5, 0-40 down in the final set before winning the tiebreaker on her fifth match point.<br><br>
Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic rallied to upset the fourth-seeded Carina Witthoeft of Germany 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. The match had been interrupted because of rain on Monday at 5-5 in the second set.<br><br>
Fifth-seeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, a five-time doubles champion in Bad Gastein, advanced to the second round after a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lara Arruabarrena of Spain.<br><br>
Also, Andreea Mitu of Romania saved two match points before beating Austrian wild-card entry Barbara Haas 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5). Other first-round winners included Polona Hercog of Slovenia, Maryna Zanevska of Ukraine, Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands, and Annika Beck of Germany.<br><br>