Intro:

Italian Flavia Pennetta beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Qatar Open on Monday (23rd February).

Two-time Qatar Open champion Victoria Azarenka beat eighth seed Angelique Kerber in the first round on Monday (23rd February)

Script:

At the Qatar Open first round action got underway on Monday wit Flavia Pennetta up against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The Italian was forced to fight back from a set down to beat her Russian opponent 3-6, 6-4 6-2.

It took the world number 16 nearly two hours to win the hard fought encounter.

She can now look forward to a second round tie against Agniezska Radwanska after the Pole received a first round bye.

Meanwhile, Qatar Open champion in 2012 and 2013, Victoria Azarenka was returning to the tournament having missed 2014 through injury.

She was up against eighth seed Angelique Kerber but made light work of her German opponent.

Azarenka totally dominated Kerber in the first set where she dropped only nine points.

She cruised to a 6-0 6-3 victory in a little over an hour,