Kanepi, ranked 55th in the world, and Dart, 102nd, had met twice before with the record 1:1, though the Briton was victorious in the most recent of these, in Indian Wells, earlier this year.

Monday's encounter was the first time they had faced-off on clay, however, and with Dart's service all over the place – with eight double faults and a 50 percent first service success rate across the two sets – Kanepi, 36, from Haapsalu, was able to prevail, dropping only one game in each set.

The entire encounter lasted just under an hour at La Caja Mágica, in the Spanish capital.

Kanepi next faces Martina Trevisan (Italy, 81st in the world), who also won her round one qualifier in straight sets, 6:1, 6:3 over local player Cristina Bucsa.

Kanepi and Trevisan have met once before competitively, in Brescia back in 2018, where the Italian won 6:4, 6:3.

Trevisan also reached the quarter finals of last year's French Open.

The winner will go through to the tournament's main draw.

Top Estonian player Anett Kontaveit is not competing due to illness, while several other players are missing from the tournament, mostly due to injury.

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