Guangzhou -- No. 6-seeded Olga Govortsova rallied Monday to collect a first-round victory at the Guangzhou Women's Open tennis tournament in China.
Govortsova dropped the first set to wild-card entrant Han Xinyun before posting a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win and advancing to the second round of the $220,000 hard-court tournament.
Also Monday, Alexandra Panova survived a third-set tiebreaker in topping Yuriko Sema 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7) and Akgul Amanmuradova sailed through a 6-3, 6-2 win over Rika Fujiwara.
The tournament begins in earnest Tuesday with 13 first-round matches, including No. 1-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues facing Kimiko Date Krumm.
