Barcelona, Apr 10: Defending champion Roberta Vinci came from behind to beat Mathilde Johansson of France 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Monday.
Johansson broke twice to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the first set with the Italian failing to land less than 50 percent of her first serves.
The fourth-seeded Vinci leveled at one-set apiece after having broken twice to lead 4-0. She then cruised home in the decider after Johansson served six double faults.
Vinci, who also won in 2009, improved her record at the tournament to 15-1.
Earlier, Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic and Sara Errani of Italy beat unseeded opponents.
The sixth-seeded Cetkovska overcame a nervy finish to oust Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, and the seventh-seeded Errani defeated Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Cetkovska wasted three match points at 5-2 in the third set to allow Peer to level at 5-5. The Israeli, however, immediately dropped serve and lost the match when she sent a return into the net.
Errani needed more than two hours to overcome Begu, whose erratic serve yielded five aces and four double faults.
Also, Simona Halep of Romania saved seven break points en route to downing American teenager Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-4.
