Wildcard Sally Peers has claimed the biggest scalp of her career with a stunning comeback victory against Russian seventh seed Alisa Kleybanova at the Brisbane International.
The first of six Australian women up on court at Pat Rafter Arena, Peers came back from a set and a service break down in the opening round clash to defeat the 25th-ranked Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-3.
Peers was helped in the final set by a suspected hip injury to Kleybanova, who still managed to give the Melbourne player a scare after she raced to 5-0.
Peers tightened up and wasted two match points at 5-1 and also looked set to lose her serve a second time at 5-3 following three unforced errors but then saved two break points to claim the biggest win of her career in her third WTA tournament.
Ranked 154th in the world, the youngster's previous best win was over Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak at last year's US Open and lost to Kim Clijsters , who then went on to win the Championships . She also took singles bronze and doubles gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Peers was looking down the barrell of a straight-sets defeat in the opening match of the tournament when she trailed 3-2 in the second set.
Kleybanova was up 40-0 in the sixth game but the Australian fought back to break in a massive turning point.
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