Paula Badosa has just clinched her opening win of the season at the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide.
On Monday, the fifth-seeded Spaniard edged out qualifier world No. 47 Peyton Stearns in a thriller 6-7 (5) 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 42 minutes of play.
Throughout the entire match, both players struggled on their serve and there were numerous break point chances on either side.
In the end, Badosa's better conversion rate proved to be the key as the world No. 12 realized 7-of-14 of her break point chances while Stearns converted 4-of-16.
For the Spanish star, it was very important to win this one, considering that she would enter the Australian Open with a 0-2 had she lost today - she was upset by Elina Avanesyan in Brisbane last week.
In the Adelaide round-of-16, the former world No. 2 will battle against the winner of the match between Marta Kostyuk and lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger.
How Badosa survived the Stearns challenge?
After claiming the first break of the match in the sixth game, the No. 5 seed allowed herself to instantly get broken back in the following game.
In the 10th game - when the American was serving to stay in the first set - the Spaniard had a set point but failed to convert and the opener ultimately went into a tie-break, where the qualifier won three consecutive points from 4-5 down to clinch the first set.
After losing the first set in a tough way, Badosa was able to bounce back and routinely force a decider after earning breaks in the third and ninth games of the second set.
Then in the third set, the Spaniard was twice up by a break but Stearns twice came back.
But with Badosa leading 6-5 and Stearns serving to stay in the match, the No. 5 seed managed to come up big in those moments and seal the win by collecting the deciding break.
