Elena Rybakina struggled in her opening Abu Dhabi match against qualifier Katie Volynets but ultimately managed to avoid a shock exit after coming back from a set down to register a 2-6 6-4 6-4 win.
Early in the match, the No. 1 seed was struggling on her serve while also failing to realize her break point chances.
But late in the second set, Rybakina managed to claim the key break - which completely changed the course of the match.
It was the second between the Kazakh and the 68th-ranked American - the world No. 5 previously won their 2022 French Open meeting.
In her next Abu Dhabi match, the 2022 Wimbledon champion will battle against the winner of the match between Ons Jabeur and Wakana Sonobe.
How Rybakina came back to beat Volynets?
The top seed made a very slow start to the match as she dropped her serve in the very first game of the match.
While the Kazakh did manage to instantly get the break back in the following game, her slow start continued after she suffered back-to-back breaks in the third and fifth games and fell to a 1-5 deficit before Volynets served out for the opener in the eighth game.
It should be noted that Rybakina had break points in the fourth, sixth and eighth games of the first set but didnt convert.
After dropping her serve three times in the first set, the 2022 Wimbledon champion stabilized on her serve and didnt allow a single break point in the second set.
Also, she broke the American in the 10th game of the second set - the game in which the world No. 68 was serving to stay in the second set.
After forcing a decider, Rybakina also started the third set with a 3-0 lead.
At 5-3, the top seed failed to serve out for the match but didnt panic and broke Volynets again in the following game to complete her three-set win.
