CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Defending champion Andrea Petkovic opened play at the Family Circle Cup with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Chanelle Scheepers on Tuesday.
Petkovic, seeded third, lost the opening set 6-1 before taking 12 of the next 15 games to advance. Others moving on were fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber, sixth-seeded Jelana Jankovic and eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia.
The top two seeds, Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova, start play at the clay-court tournament Wednesday.
Petkovic was a surprise champion here a year ago. But it looked as if she would be a surprise early loser in defending the title. However, Petkovic turned things around to win her seventh straight match at the Family Circle Tennis Center.