Third seed Rybakina saves set points to survive at Australian Open

World No 3 Elena Rybakina overcame a slow start and saved a clutch of set points to beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in her first match at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

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Last year's beaten finalist could not get on the board in the first two games as her 38th-ranked Czech opponent made a flying start.

But the Kazakh third seed quickly found her feet on Rod Laver Arena against the 2019 semifinalist, breaking to get back on terms.

The rest of the set went with serve, with Pliskova fending off three set points in the 12th game.

In the tie-break, it was Rybakina's turn to dig deep against the two-time Grand Slam finalist.

She saved three set points, the third with a cross-court forehand that just caught the line and took the set 8-6.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion, who won the Brisbane International earlier this month, broke in the third game of the second set to establish a firm grip on the match and suffered few scares after that.

Rybakina, who will face unseeded Russian Anna Blinkova in the second round, said it had been a tough first outing.

"I'm really happy that I managed to win and survive the first set," she said. "The second was a bit better."

She added: "No matter what the result was last year I'm super happy to be back. It was very positive for me even though I lost (in the 2023 final)."