Govortsova, the world number 83, kept her nerve in a match that saw eight breaks of serve, seizing the initiative in each set when it mattered to emerge a 6-4 6-3, 85 minute victor.

There were no such problems for Germany's second seed Julia Goerges, who cruised past Aravane Rezai of France 6-4 6-0, nor third seed Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-0 6-3 winner over another Frenchwoman, Iryna Bremond.

Fifth seed Flavia Pennetta cruised past Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena-Veci 6-0 6-4 and other winners were Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, Klara Zakopalova, Yuliya Beygelzimer, Carla Suarez Navarro and Estrella Cabeza Candela.