Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez rallied from a set down to beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha, on Tuesday.

The Spaniard, ranked 37 in the world, now meets world number five and third seed Anastasia Myskina, champion in Doha for the last two years.

Top seed Amelie Mauresmo, number two seed Maria Sharapova and fourth seed Alicia Molik will also take to the court on Wednesday after first round byes.

"I needed to change the pace of my shots. I was playing quite low in the beginning," Martinez said. "Only when I started mixing it up things began to happen in my favour."

Looking ahead to the Myskina clash, she said: "She [Myskina] is a great player and I am sure it will be a tough match. I know I will have to fight for every ball."

In other first round matches, Australian Nicole Pratt beat Selima Sfar of Tunisia 7-5, 6-2 while Japan's Ai Sugiyama defeated Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.