Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova defeated Australian wildcard Talia Gibson 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 in the three-hour marathon at the Brisbane International opener on Sunday.
World No. 44 Buzkova was expected to score an easy victory over the 20-year-old Australian, but the hard-hitting Gibson pushed her to the end.
She will face seventh-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the second round of the season-opening tournament.
“She has so much power that I fell behind in many rallies,” Buzkova said.
“I’m really happy that I was able to get a lot of the ball back and fight with everything I had.”
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In other matches, American McCartney Kessler upset Poland’s world No. 38 Magda Lynette in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
The 25-year-old American will face No. 15 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the second round.
Mexico’s Renata Zarazua defeated Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-0, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Australia’s Maya Joynt defeated compatriot Madison Inglis 6-3, 6-4, while Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan defeated Slovakia’s Rebecca Slamkova 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Russia’s Anna Brinkova defeated Sara Bezirek of the Czech Republic 6-1. 7-6 (7/5).
American Ashlyn Krueger defeated Japan’s Moka Uchijima 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and Dutch Susan Lemens defeated Kamila Rahimova 6-2, 6-4. Destroyed it.
