Badgastein, Austria, 22 July 2015 | AP

Sam Stosur has made hard work of a 6-4 4-6 6-1 win over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the opening round of the Gastein Ladies.

The 23rd-ranked Australian, who is seeded second, dropped her opening service game on Tuesday but reeled off four straight games from 2-4 down.

Sevastova broke again in the opening game of the second set and held on to take it before Stosur dominated the final set.

Sevastova, who came out of retirement this season, had beaten Stosur in their only previous match – at the China Open in 2010, when Stosur was ranked seventh.

Meanwhile, former champion Julia Goerges defeated Risa Ozaki of Japan 6-3 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with Daria Kasatkina of Russia, who beat Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3 6-1.

Karin Knapp saved three match points against Tamira Paszek of Austria before sealing a 6-0 6-7(5) 7-6(6) win, while Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic rallied to upset the fourth-seeded Carina Witthoeft of Germany 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4.

Fifth-seeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic advanced to the second round after a 6-4 6-1 win over Lara Arruabarrena of Spain and Andreea Mitu of Romania saved two match points before beating Austrian wild-card entry Barbara Haas 6-1 6-7(5) 7-6(5).