WUHAN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai thrilled the home crowd with an impressive comeback win over the 14th seed Emma Navarro 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Wuhan Open on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old Zhang dominated the opening set with a stronger and more reliable serve, winning 82.4 percent of her first serve points, far beyond 58.1 percent of her American opponent.

Navarro, 24, fought back in the second to level the match and took a 3-0 lead in the third set. But Zhang showed resilience amid loud cheers from the home crowd, reeling off six consecutive games, including three breaks of serve, to complete the comeback. She converted her first match point in the ninth game to seal the victory after one hour and 36 minutes.

It was Zhang's second win against Navarro, having also beaten her 6-4, 6-2 at last year's China Open. With the victory, Zhang, the former world No. 22 and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, enters the second round, where she will next face Romania's Sorana Cirstea.

Earlier, Japan's four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka rallied past Canada's Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 while Britain's Emma Raducanu was forced to retire while trailing 6-1, 4-1 against American Ann Li. Enditem