World No. 119 Kateryna Kozlova produced a fine upset to overcome No. 1 seed Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round of the Tashkent Open.
The Ukrainian came back from a poor start after losing eight of the first nine points to win 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 18 minutes.
Both players struggled to hold serve early on but the decisive moment came at 4-3 in the first set when Kozlova chased down a drop shot at the net with a cross-court flick.
Her shot was initially called out but then overruled by the umpire on the far side of the court to the frustration of the world No. 54 Begu who lost her concentration and allowed Kozlova to secure the decisive break before closing out the set in style.
Kozlova maintained her momentum into the second set and broke early to lead 2-1 with a huge winner on return. Romanian Begu then squandered a break point at 4-2 before Kozlova broke herself and held to love to take the second set and the match.
Elsewhere former Wimbledon and US Open finalist Vera Zvonareva overcame Slovenia's No. 3 seed Tamara Zidansek 6-1, 6-4.
Russian Zvonareva -- who made the semifinals at Tashkent last year -- cruised through in one hour and 15 minutes to secure her place in the second round.
Also through is Belarussian No. 3 seed Vera Lapko. She dispatched Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 6-3.
No. 7 seed Evgeniya Rodina also won in straight sets, the Russian defeating Magdalena Frech of Poland 7-5, 6-2.
There was double success for Serbia against Russia as Olga Danilovic beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-1 and Ivana Jorovic defeated Ekaterina Alexandrovna 6-3, 6-2.
Germany's Mona Barthel was given a scare by Uzbekistan's home favourite Nigina Abduraimova but eventually won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
And Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands won in straight sets, beating Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-3.