Update 8:10 pm. Teenager Sally Peers made the most of a rare wildcard by accomplishing what Samantha Stosur and Jelena Dokic have failed to do – kicking off the Brisbane International with an Australian victory.
And what a victory it was for the Melbourne 19 year old, claiming the biggest scalp of her career with a stirring upset of seventh-seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova at Pat Rafter Arena.
Peers came from a set and break down to savour a 3-6 6-4 6-3 triumph over the world No.25 to earn a berth in the second round.
Given the honour of being the Australian woman to start the tournament off on centre court, the youngster bettered the efforts of high-profile compatriots Stosur (2009) and Dokic (2010) who lost their first-round matches at Rafter Arena.
While Peers started 2011 with a bang, Australia’s A-Rod, Commonwealth Games champion Anastasia Rodionova, failed to fire as she went down 2-6 6-2 6-3 to rising Serb Bojana Jovanovski.
Often overlooked for wildcards previously by Tennis Australia, who have handed more to her cohorts, Peers admitted she was motivated to cash in on her main draw opportunity.
“I look back now and sure I was disappointed that I didn’t get a wildcard earlier,” she said.
“But I’m really happy it’s all come about. It’s made me learn how to fight and earn my spot in every event.
“It was the biggest win of my career so hopefully I can keep that form up.”
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Ranked 154th in the world, Peers’ previous best was over Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak at last year’s US Open while she also took singles bronze and doubles gold at the Commonwealth Games.
The youngster called on her fighting spirit when looking down the barrell of a straight-sets defeat when trailing 3-2 in the second set.
Kleybanova, who came into the match with a foot problem following an off-season at home in Moscow, was up 40-0 in the sixth game but Peers engineered a massive turnaround.
“That game coming back from 0-40 gave me a lot of confidence that I could stick with her and really fight it out – that’s what I did,” she said.
“If she’d held there it would have been 4-2 and probably one of my last chances. That’s probably where I started to hit my shots more.
“I tried to stay out there for as long as possible – maybe she’s not used to the warm conditions.”
Peers raced to 5-0 up in the deciding set, as Kleybanova’s foot troubles worsened but the big-hitting Russian still managed to give her fright after she wasted two match points at 5-1.
A shaky Peers also looked set to lose her serve a second time at 5-3 following three unforced errors but rediscovered her nerve.
“To be able to re-group and close it out I was very happy with,” she said.