Ajla Tomljanovic has progressed to last 32 of the WTA's Charleston Open, but not without a struggle.
The Australian overcame Japanese qualifier Kyoka Okamura 3-6 6-1 6-2 at the claycourt event in South Carolina.
World No.87 Tomljanovic, who had lost in the first round of her last two tournaments in the US, made a slow start, broken in the third, fifth and ninth games of the opening set.
But the 31-year-old responded in stunning fashion, breaking three times herself to go up 5-0 in the second before levelling the match.
In her first meeting with the current world No.183, Tomljanovic raced to a 4-0 lead in the decider and wrapped the contest up in one hour 54 minutes by breaking for the eighth time in the contest.
She will next face the 16th seed, American Peyton Stearns.
Also in round two, after an opening bye, is world No.12 Daria Kasatkina.
The Russian-born 27-year-old will represent Australia for the first time since last week's nationality switch, and has automatically become the nation's new women's No.1 and the country's highest-ranked player since Ash Barty retired.
Another Aussie in Olivia Gadecki, the world No.100, opens her campaign against American Hailey Baptiste on Wednesday (AEDT).
In other results on Tuesday, Robin Montgomery set up a clash with seventh seed Danielle Collins.
The Kudermetova sisters, Polina and Veronika, also progressed in straight sets, as did Caroline Dolehide, who has teed up a meeting with fellow American and second seed Madison Keys.
