HYDERABAD, India -- Israel's Shahar Peer stunned third-seeded Russian Tatiana Panova 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the first round of the WTA Tour's Hyderabad Open on Monday.
Seventh-seeded Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia also fell at the opening hurdle as Tzipora Obziler of Israel carved a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Peer, 17, winner of the Australian Open junior girls' title last year, held her nerve at crucial moments to knock out Panova in one hour.
A break in the fifth game helped Peer secure the first set, but she dropped her serve in the second game to slip down 0-2 in the second set.
She bounced back by firing a series of aces and breaking Panova twice to go 4-3 ahead.
Panova drew level at 4-4 as Peer committed two unforced errors in the eighth game. Both players held their next two serves, but Peer clinched the tiebreaker by hitting two superb down-the-line winners.
"The break point in the fifth game of the first set gave me the confidence that I can win," said a jubilant Peer, placed 72 places below the WTA Tour's 60th ranked Panova.
Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada survived a match point in the second set to prevail 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Russia's Ekaterina Bychkova.
Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, Bychkova lost her serve twice in successive games and failed to recover from that lapse.
In other matches, Roberta Vinci of Italy posted an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory over Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina, while Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine defeated India's Ankita Bhambri 6-3, 6-2.
