Krejcikova, ranked 128th in the world, had had to pass through qualifying for the event to set up her meeting with the Estonian, ranked just outside the top 100 in the world.

The result is the first time Krejcikova had made it past the first round in Australia; Kanepi's career best is the third round, making the tournament her weakest of the four grand slam events.

The first set was close, with both players breaking each other's serves early on; the Czech broke Kanepi's serve again in the ninth game, but Kanepi held on to bring things to five apiece in the next game. Kanepi had two set-balls two games later, leading 6:5, but Krejcikova held her off, taking things to a tie break situation which she won 7:3, ERR's sports portal reports.

The second set went much more the Estonian's way; Kanepi broke Krejcikova's serve twice, and finished 6:2.

However the roles were reversed in the deciding set, with the Czech breaking the Estonian's serve and soon leading 4:2. After two more games, the scoreline stood at 5:3 to Krejcikova, and 30 all in the next game, when rain briefly interrupted play.

After the pause, Krejcikova held on to take the set 6:3 and thus the match, at a little before 6 a.m. Estonian time, setting up an encounter with Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, ranked 25th in the world.

Estonia's Anett Kontaveit is also due to take on local player Astra Sharma in her first round game, on Tuesday.

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