Daria Saville has fought her way into the second round of the Guangzhou Open as women's tennis continued a low-key return to China.
Savile battled past Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam, ranked 63 places higher, 3-6, 6-3 6-1, in a match lasting more than two-and-half hours. Saville, the world No.177, will next meet top seed Magda Linette.
The competition is the first in China since the WTA launched a boycott in December 2021 after former top-20 player Peng Shuai said on social media that she had been sexually assaulted by a senior Communist Party official.
