British number one Katie Boulter eased into the second round of the San Diego Open with an eye-catching two-set win over Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in Monday's first-round showdown.
The world number 49 entered her opening battle having lost each of her first three WTA Tour clashes with the Ukrainian, but she broke that curse in emphatic fashion with a 6-3 6-1 win in one hour and 10 minutes.
Boulter now faces another tough test of her credentials against Brazilian second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, although with eight double faults apiece between herself and Tsurenko, she conceded that she was not firing on all cylinders on Monday.
"I know how tough she can be to play against. I knew today would be an absolute battle. I don't think either of us played our best tennis but it's about finding a way and I did that today," Boulter said on her on-court interview.
Boulter would draw first blood with a break in the third game of the match, but after immediately beating away two break points for Tsurenko in her subsequent service game, the Briton was pegged back to 3-3.
However, more mistakes from Tsurenko gifted Boulter another two breaks to close out the opening set before a marvellous fightback in the second, where she was broken immediately but responded with a six-game winning sequence, sealing the win on her first match point as a Tsurenko forehand clipped the net tape and bounced back over to her side.
Boulter's success was witnessed by compatriot Jodie Burrage, who entered the San Diego Open in the qualifying rounds but fell at the first hurdle to Marina Melnikova.
Ben Knapton
