Organisers of the ASB Bank Tennis Classic breathed a sigh of relief today as star attraction Anna Kournikova battled her way through to the second round against Zimbabwe's Cara Black.
Kournikova struggled in the early rounds against Black and at one stage was down 1-4 in the first set beforefighting her way back up to win 7-6.
Playing in extremely hot conditions, Kournikova rapidly got into her stride and went on to defeat black 6-2 in the second set to win the match.
Meanwhile, defending champion Meilen Tu was eliminated from the international women's tennis tournament here earlier today.
Tu, of the United States and ranked 45th in the world, lost her first-round singles match 3-6 2-6 to unseeded Tunisian Selima Sfar.
With the on-court temperature reaching 36degC, sixth seed Tu struggled to find any rhythm and simply made too many unforced errors against Sfar, ranked 82 in the world.
Shelly Stephens, New Zealand's last hope at the Classic, has also been bundled out.
She was beaten by qualifier Barbara Schwartz in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
