No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia got her 2024 Adelaide International campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Romania's Sorana Cirstea in the first round.

No.3 seed Marketa Vondrousova withdrew ahead of her first-round match citing a hip injury. Taylor Townsend took her place in the draw as a lucky loser. The American made good on her luck, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6(4).

World No.12 Ostapenko, a quarterfinalist at last week's Brisbane International, took 1 hour and 58 minutes to prevail, denying 26th-ranked Cirstea her first victory of the 2024 season.

Ostapenko has now won four of her five matches against Cirstea. The 2017 Roland Garros champion avenged a loss to Cirstea in their most recent prior meeting, which was at 2023 Wimbledon.

More Adelaide R1 highlights: Siegemund def. Samsonova | Garcia def. Preston | Alexandrova def. Linette | Townsend def. Sasnovich

In Tuesday's tilt, Cirstea won four games in a row to clinch the opening set, where she never faced break point. But Ostapenko rebounded in the second set, earning her first break of the day to lead 2-1, then fending off six break points in the following game to grit out a hold for 3-1. Ostapenko hit back-to-back aces to close out the second set.

In the decider, Ostapenko’s powerful groundstrokes and returns led her to a commanding 5-2 lead. The Latvian was broken serving for the match, then missed out on two match points at 5-3, but she earned a third chance at 5-4 with a stunning forehand winner on the sideline. Ostapenko would not be denied on that occasion, firing her sixth ace to triumph.

Ostapenko will face former No.4 Caroline Garcia in the next round. The Frenchwoman avoided the upset bug, coming from a break down in the final set to defeat 18-year-old Australian wild card Taylah Preston 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

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Also on Tuesday, Laura Siegemund posted a first-round upset with a 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4 victory over No.7 seed Liudmila Samsonova. World No.89 Siegemund needed 2 hours and 53 minutes to outlast 14th-ranked Samsonova and grab the 17th Top 20 win of her career.

Last week, Siegemund was an integral part of Germany's run to the United Cup title. Siegemund, the WTA Doubles World No.5, went 3-0 in mixed doubles at the mixed-team event, including winning the title-clinching match for her country.

Siegemund continued her strong form with Tuesday's win over Samsonova, coming back from breaks down in both the second and third sets. Siegemund has now tied their head-to-head at 2-2, including wins in their last two meetings.

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Ekaterina Alexandrova also posted a notable victory, delivering a superb clutch performance to save four match points in the second-set tiebreak against Magda Linette. Alexandrova also trailed 5-3 in the third set, but came back strongly again to win 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-5 in 2 hours and 43 minutes.