Australia’s Olivia Rogowska has claimed victory in her first-round qualifying match, out-hitting fourth seed Shuai Zhang.
A wildcard into Brisbane International qualifying, Rogowska opened the match strongly, winning 6-0 .
“She really fought hard in that second set,” Rogowska said, who went down 4-6 as Zhang struck back.
“There was a really nasty line call called against me, but I just tried to really forget about it and start well in the third set.”
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The 19-year-old served strongly and made good returns, going on to secure her win 6-1 in the final set.
“It was a really tough draw,” Rogowska said.
“She [Zhang] is top 100 so I knew that it was going to be a really tough match.
“It’s the last day of 2010 so to finish off with a win I was really pleased,” she said.
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Going into the game, Rogowska said she was nervous.
“But the Australian Open Play-offs has given me a lot of confidence and I had some good wins there,” she said.
“At the end of the year I just worked really hard – a lot of hours on the court and off the court to get things back on track.
“If I can play like this leading up to the Australian Open I’ll be really happy.”
Rogowska says her new coach has made a big difference to her game, who she has been working with since July.
“It was a bit tough at first … because I thought I was working hard, but knowing that I had to work even harder.
“But it has made a big difference, so all thanks to him.
“Hopefully I’ll get to qualify and earn my spot in the main draw.”
In another early match, Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva fell to Canadian Rebecca Marino 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Meanwhile, fellow Australian and local Brisbane hope Isabella Holland was not so fortunate, falling in straight sets to former junior Australian Open champion Arantxta Rus, 6-2 6-2.
American Alison Riske grunted her way to a 6-4 6-3 win against Ukrainian Olga Savchuk, while Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano made a successful return from injury with a hard-fought 7-6(1) 6-4 win over Colombian Mariana Duque Marino.