Barbara Schett survived five match points before beating Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 on Monday to reach the second round of the Wismilak International WTA tournament.

The big-hitting Austrian took nearly three hours to beat Morigami in a match characterized by furious baseline rallies.

Morigami served for the first set twice, at 5-4 and 6-5, before clinching it 7-2 in the tiebreak.

In the second set, the more consistent Japanese player held five match points on the Austrian's serve at 5-4, but Schett survived before breaking her opponent, then forged ahead 6-5 before serving out for the set.

The final set was fought tooth-and-nail, with Schett failing to close out the match on serve at 5-4 and 6-5.

Morigami, after taking the set into another tiebreak, led 5-2 before Schett clinched victory by winning the last five points.