Former Wimbledon [ Images ] champion Conchita Martinez rallied from a set down to beat Roberta Vinci of Italy [ Images ] 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 [ Images ], champion in Doha for the last two years.

Top seed Amelie Mauresmo [ Images ], number two seed Maria Sharapova [ Images ] and fourth seed Alicia Molik [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] Ai Sugiyama [ Images ] defeated Australia's [ Images ] Samantha Stosur [ Images ] 6-2, 6-3.