Fourth-seeded New Zealander Marina Erakovic battled back from a set down to win her first round match at the Memphis International women's tennis tournament.
Erakovic eventually prevailed 4-6 6-0 6-1 over unseeded American Sloane Stephens, ranked 86th in the world to Erakovic's 54th.
The New Zealand No.1 will meet Russian Evgeniya Rodina, who has a world ranking of 137, in the next round. Rodina beat American Irina Falconi 6-1 6-3 to advance to the second round.
Erakovic struggled last week in the WTA tournament in Bogota, Colombia, falling to unseeded Romanian Edina Gallovits-Hall 6-4 6-4 in the second round when she was the top seed for the tournament. It was her first tournament since she made the second round of the Australian Open in January.
NZN