Bulgarian tennis player Tsvetana Pironkova recorded a victory in the first round of the women's singles competition at the Apia International Sydney on Monday.

Pironkova won against Italy's Flavia Pennetta with 6:3, 7:6 (4) in a match that lasted hour and a half.

Although Pironkova won the tournament in Sydney last year, she was not awarded a wild card and had to start from the qualifications, in which she recorded three victories.

The Bulgarian had three losses from her Italian opponent so far, in which she had won only one set.

Pironkova made 4 aces and 2 double faults, winning 5 breaks and conceding 3.

The Bulgarian started the match well, achieving an early break, but soon Pennetta equalised for 3:3.

However the next three games were won by Pironkova and she closed the set with 6:3.

In the second set, the Bulgarian was in the lead 4:1, but she allowed the Italian to equalise for 4:4.

At 5:4 Pironkova needed to win a game in order to claim victory, but Pennetta made a break for 6:5.

The Bulgarian won the next game, leading to a tiebreak, in which Pironkova had two match points at 6:4 and scored the first.

In the second round Pironkova will face Madison Keys (USA), who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova from Russia with 6:4, 6:4.

The only match between the two took place in the first round of the Indian Wells tournament, in which Keys defeated Pironkova with 6:2, 6:1.

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