Seventh seed Silvia Farina Elia advanced to the second round of the Paris Open with a gruelling 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-2 win over Alexandra Stevenson.
The Italian proved too consistent for Stevenson, who combined powerful winners with blatant basic errors.
Having lost the first set, Farina Elia
took the match to a decider in which the American served three double-faults
to lose successive service games.
Farina Elia's third straight win over Stevenson came in two hours 18 minutes.
"She has excellent groundstrokes and I really had to fight hard to stay in the second set," said Farina Elia.
"I think when we started the third set she lost her
concentration, and that's why I was able to win the last set quite easily."
Fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone, seeded fifth, also made the second round, beating France's Emilie Loit 6-2 4-6 6-3.
Eleni Daniilidou of Greece went down 6-2 4-6 6-4 to Spaniard Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo, who goes on to face world number two Kim Clijsters.
"I'm looking forward to playing Kim," she said.
"It's not every day you get to play someone as good as her, so it's a nice chance to see how my game compares to hers."
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