KEY BISCAYNE (Florida), March 21: Alisa Kleybanova has won her first match on return to tennis from treatment for cancer. The 248th-ranked Russia, who received a wild card entry into the tournament, dropped the first set to Johanna Larsson of Sweden before rebounding to secure a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at the WTA Miami event on Tuesday.
Kleybanova was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last May and it has been 10 months since the 22-year-old Russian played a professional match.
Kleybanova, who will play fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the second round, looked rusty in the first set. But she picked up her play to take care of the 64th-ranked Larsson.
By the time Kleybanova went 4-1 up in the second set, Larsson was losing her cool. She threw her racket to the court at the end of that fifth game, and had further meltdown moments throughout the match.
Kleybanova failed to take advantage of three match points at 0-40 with Larsson serving at 1-5 in the third set.
She closed out the match on her own serve in the next game, but it took some serious effort. She went down 30-40, but fought back for the win, taking the match when Larsson netted a forehand.
Tuesday’s schedule only featured 12 women’s first-round matches.
Heather Watson of Great Britain, another wildcard recipient, won a tough 6-3, 3-, 7-6 winner over Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, the player who upset Serena Williams at this year’s Australian Open, outlasted Jelena Dokic 6-1, 7-5.
Mona Barthel of Germany defeated Greta Arn of Hungary 6-1, 6-0.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):Women’s singles:First round: Zheng Jie (China) bt Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-4; Zhang Shuai (China) bt Elena Baltacha (Britain) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) bt Mathilde Johansson (France) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) bt Jelena Dokic (Australia) 6-1, 7-5; Heather Watson (Britain) bt Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4); Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) bt Petra Martic (Croatia) 6-3, 6-2; Mona Barthel (Germany) bt Greta Arn (Hungary) 6-1, 6-0; Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) bt Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 6-3, 6-3; Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) bt Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Simona Halep (Romania) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3; Anna Tatishvili (Georgia) bt Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-4, 4-3 — Paszek retired; Chanelle Scheepers (South Africa) bt Irina-Camelia Begu (Romania) 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.—Agencies