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Muchova won 70.6 percent of her first serves
and broke Estonia's Kontaveit five times in nine opportunities
to roll into the next round. Kontaveit, also working on a return
from a back injury, produced just nine winners against 20
unforced errors on the clay.
Muchova improved to 3-0 against Kontaveit.
"I spin it more, she goes for it, she goes fast," Muchova told
tennis.com afterward. "She made more mistakes that helped me for
sure. I tried to play my game and it kind of worked."
Muchova improved to 14-5 in main draws this year after battling
abdominal and ankle injuries in 2022.
"From the start I was a little bit struggling and sliding. It's
a different clay than we have in Prague, where I was
practicing," Muchova said. "I'm really glad that I managed to
win it in two sets."
Muchova has a date with No. 31 Irina Camelia Begu of Romania in
the second round.
Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto spoiled the return of Czech
Barbora Strycova 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Strycova, 37, was playing in her first match since the 2021
Australian Open after giving birth to a son in September 2021.
Strycova fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set, but
Cocciaretto clinched the win on her fourth match point.
In the marathon match of the day, Romanian Ana Bogdan rallied to
defeat Anna Bondar of Hungary 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in three hours
and one minute.
Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan also opened with a win, defeating
Claire Liu 6-4, 6-4. Putintseva draws fifth-seeded Caroline
Garcia of France in the next round.
Linda Fruhvirtova of Czech Republic advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win
over Katie Volynets.
Also, Belgium's Maryna Zanevska needed just 58 minutes to beat
Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-3. Canadian Rebecca Marino advanced with a
7-6 (1), 6-4 win over Lin Zhu of China. Sorana Cirstea of
Romania was a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Lauren Davis. Germany's
Jule Niemeier handled China's Xinyu Wang 6-4, 6-2.
--Field Level Media
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