Serena Williams had to fight hard to reach the third round of the Madrid Open before finally overcoming Vera Dushevina 6-7 7-6 7-6.
World number one fights back from match point down in Madrid
Serena Williams had to fight hard to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Monday after saving match point before finally overcoming Vera Dushevina 6-7 7-6 7-6.
The world number one, who won her 12th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January before spending three months on the sidelines because of injury, appeared set for an early exit when the unseeded Russian, who won the opening set, held match point at 6-5 in the second.
However, shouting at both herself and her father and coach Richard, the American clawed her way back into the contest and proceeded to take the next two sets - despite receiving lengthy treatment to her right thigh and lower back.
Williams squandered one match point with a wild backhand at 6-4 in the third-set tiebreak, but served a ninth ace on the very next point to win after almost three-and-a-half hours on court.
"When I shout like that it's just to get energised," Williams, who will be seeking to win her second French Open title later this month, said later.
"I really try to get myself going. I need energy and I need emotion to help me play better.
Safina shocked
She added: "I definitely wasn't playing my best tennis and I was far off from playing well but after three hours I thought I had better win.
"I really wanted to win today because I really wanted to get some matches under my belt," she added.
Williams did not elaborate on her injury but ahead of an examination, she said she didn't think it was too serious.
In other results, Dinara Safina's French Open preparations suffered a shock setback when she lost 7-6 7-6 to Czech qualifier Klara Zakopalova.
The world number five joins fellow stars Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova out of the event at the first stage.
The were no such problems for fourth seed Venus Williams, though, as she overcame Vera Zvonareva 7-5 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur edged past Argentine Gisela Dulko 7-6 7-5 and 16th seed Nadia Petrova beat Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina 4-6 6-2 6-3.
