CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) Defending champion Andrea Petkovic opened play at the Family Circle Cup with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Chanelle Scheepers on Tuesday.
Petkovic, seeded third, lost the opening set 6-1 before taking 12 of the next 15 games to advance. Others moving on were fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber, sixth-seeded Jelana Jankovic and eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia.
The top two seeds, Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova, start play at the clay-court tournament Wednesday.
Petkovic was a surprise champion here a year ago. But it looked as if she would be a surprise early loser in defending the title. However, Petkovic turned things around to win her seventh straight match at the Family Circle Tennis Center.
Other winners Tuesday were past champion, ninth-seeded Sam Stosur; 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic and last year's finalist Jana Cepelova.
