Tennis: Anisimova returns to the WTA tour with win over Pavlyuchenkova in Auckland

Auckland (New Zealand) : Amanda Anisimova of the United States made a triumphant return to WTA Tour action on New Year's Day, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4 in a first-round clash at the ASB Classic here on Monday.

In other first-round results from Monday, No.3 seed Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine beat American qualifier Sachia Vickery 7-5, 6-4, and No.4 seed Emma Navarro of the United States defeated Czech teen Linda Fruhvirtova 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Also, the sixth seed Wang Xinyu of China beat Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 7-5. In the second round, she will face her fellow Chinese player Wang Xiyu, who squeaked past Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(3).

On Monday, the focus was on Anisimova, the former World No.21 and 2019 Roland Garros semifinalist who was playing her first match since a first-round loss to Arantxa Rus in Madrid eight months ago.

The 22-year-old American needed 1 hour and 55 minutes to oust 2021 Roland Garros finalist Pavlyuchenkova for her first win since beating Vera Zvonareva in Dubai last February. "I knew that it was going to be a really tough match playing against her, and I'm just happy that I was able to pull off the win and play some good tennis," Anisimova said on the court after her match.

The two players showcased their strong return as six of the first eight games went against serve. Anisimova grabbed the seventh break of the opening set to lead 6-5 and the American closed out the set in the following game with a second-serve ace.

The 22-year-old from New Jersey surged ahead 5-1 in the second set, but former World No.11 Pavlyuchenkova closed the gap, winning three games in a row to pull to 5-4. Serving for the match for the second time, Anisimova saw a double match point slide back to deuce, but she set up a third match point with a forehand winner. There, Anisimova fired her sixth ace of the day to attain victory.

Anisimova is now 2-0 against Pavlyuchenkova, having also notched straight sets win in their previous meeting at Indian Wells in 2018.

Anisimova will next take on No.5 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the second round, which will be their first career meeting. Bouzkova edged Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 earlier on Monday.