Charleston, SC, USA, 6 April 2016 | AAP

Sam Stosur has battled her way through to the second round of the WTA event in Charleston, South Carolina.

The 10th seed Australian saved 16 break points in the 6-4 6-4 win over world No.124 Aleksandra Krunic in a match that lasted an hour and 39 minutes.

World No.26 Stosur, who won the event in 2010 and was a a semifinalist in 2012, struggled with strong winds as she was broken four times and sent down 11 double faults in the topsy-turvy performance.

“My tennis could have been a little bit better, and my serve especially,” she said.

“Whether it was the conditions, a bit of lack of focus at times, whatever the case, it’s certainly something that I need to rectify for the next round.”

Stosur now faces Slovakian Jana Cepelova in the second round.

Fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova, also competing in Charleston, had earlier booked a second round meeting with Zhang Shuai with a three-sets win over Zarina Diyas.