Frenchwoman Alize Cornet battled back from losing the first set to overcome seventh seeded Russian Elena Vesnina in the opening round of the Brisbane International on Sunday.
Playing in ferocious heat on an outside court where the on-court temperature climbed above 40 degrees Celsius, the tenacious Cornet wore down Vesnina 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in two hours, 37 minutes.
She will now play Christina McHale in the second round after the American beat Italian Sara Errani in straight games 6-3, 6-3.
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard's hopes of turning her form slump around were dashed when she was bundled out by US player Shelby Rogers 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
Bouchard reached a career-high world ranking of five in October 2014 but has slumped to 46 after a run of disappointing results in 2016.
She said earlier this week she wanted to use the Brisbane tournament to relaunch her career but she found the big-hitting Rogers too tough on Pat Rafter Arena.
Rogers stormed through the first set before Bouchard recovered to level the match.
However, after a 10-minute break because of the heat, which Bouchard asked for, Rogers dominated the third set to win in one hour, 53 minutes.
"I definitely feel kind of rusty, out of it," Bouchard said.
"I haven't played in a match in a while. I haven't won a match in a while. All those thoughts kind of go into your head a little bit when you're on the court."
Bouchard said although she had requested the heat break, she wasn't blaming the loss on the conditions.
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