Zhuhai: American CoCo Vandeweghe kicked off the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China with a dramatic comeback win on Tuesday, seeing off home wildcard Peng Shuai 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the first round-robin match of the Bougainvillea Group.


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After dropping her serve twice in the opening set, Vandeweghe rediscovered her rhythm and fired five of her six aces over the course of the next two sets.


The two-time grand slam semi-finalist dropped only five points on her serve in the decider to collect her first win of the tournament.


"Today was a survive-and-conquer kind of day. I really was playing not so well, very below average for the standard that I`m used to playing and competing at," Vandeweghe, the second seed, told reporters.


"I think it was just a matter of focusing on the next point at hand and just moving forward. It`s a tough part of the year and it`s a tough event."


Fourth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova opened her campaign with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win over former world number one Angelique Kerber of Germany in the Rose Group.


The 26-year-old Russian rallied back from an early break down in the final set to continue her impressive run in Asia, after a runner-up finish in Tokyo followed by her third title of the year in Hong Kong earlier this month.


Germany's Julia Georges held off a late charge from Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia to win 6-1 7-6(5) in the first match of the Azalea Group.