Top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrated her 16th birthday by opening up her challenge for the girls' singles title with a win over 14-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito. But she only went through in the new-style match tie-break which has been introduced in place of the third set in the event this year.
A week after she was given a pummelling in the Ladies Singles event by Daniela Hantuchova, Pavlyuchenkova was back on court determined to show who was boss in the junior event - and begin her bid to add to her junior Grand Slam haul of one US Open and two Australian Open titles.
She adeptly combined powerful groundstrokes and a sprinkling of drop shots to secure an early break and race to a 4-2 lead before rain interrupted play.
But on the players' return to court, the tables turned. Pavlyuchenkova began missing, while Larcher de Brito grew in consistency. Using power and accuracy to her advantage, the Portuguese youngster broke back and went on to claim the set.
The pattern was repeated in the second, when the Russian captured an early break, only to be broken back and again find herself 5-4 down. This time she held her nerve and despite rain halting play for the second time she went on to take the set 7-5.
A close contest ensued in the third set tie-break decider. It was level pegging all the way until 5-5, when Larcher de Brito hit a couple of loose balls and helped the Russian escape with a lead and book her place in the second round with a scoreline of 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5).
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