Carina Witthoeft survives scare at Tashkent Open

Second seed Carina Witthoeft survived an early scare at the Tashkent Open before coming through in three sets against Kristyna Pliskova.

The world number 58 has a huge opportunity in front of her this week in Uzbekistan to claim a first WTA title, but she made a shaky start.

Pliskova quickly put Witthoeft's serve under pressure and was able to convert the second of her three break chances, before sealing the set at the third attempt.

She was unable to maintain her momentum, though, and Witthoeft came back into the match and edged the decider on her way to a 4-6 6-3 6-4 success.

Fellow seed Margarita Gasparyan also had a tough opening set in her first round match with Alexandra Panova, the pair trading blows on their way to a tie-break.

Gasparyan raised her game in the breaker to move ahead, before dominating the second to complete a 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 victory.

Nao Hibino also enjoyed a straight-sets win as she beat wildcard Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 6-4, while Elena Vesnina again failed to transport her doubles form into the singles game.

Vesnina " who has already booked her place in the doubles competition at the WTA Finals with Ekaterina Makarova " showed plenty of battling spirit against Anna-Lena Friedsam, but the latter prevailed 6-2 5-7 7-5.