Naomi Broady through to second round at Auckland Classic
Wednesday 4 January 2017 08:23, UK
Naomi Broady got her 2017 season off to a winning start as she breezed into the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Broady, ranked 90th in the world, showed her battling spirit to see off her higher-ranked opponent Danka Kovinic 7-6 6-3 and ensure she remains in the top 100.
The British No 3 reached the quarter-finals of this tournament last year but looked up against it early on as she was broken twice by the world No 70 to trail the first set 5-2.
However, she found her groove and rattled off four successive games to send the set to a tie-break, where she then won five successive points to claim it 7-5.
The second set followed a similar pattern as an early break for Kovinic saw her take a 3-0 lead but Broady's response was even better as she won the next six games to win in straight sets.
Elsewhere, British No 2 Heather Watson suffered defeat to Kristina Mladenovic in the Hopman Cup.
There are no ranking points on offer at the mixed-team international tournament in Perth, where Watson is playing with Dan Evans, but she fell to her second loss of the year as she went down 6-4 5-7 6-3.
