Rain delays could not halt Sam Stosur as she beat Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets at the Qatar Total Open 2017 across almost four hours.

After first-round defeats in her first three tournaments of the year, Stosur made the semi-finals in Taiwan two weeks ago and this victory sets her up for a second-round match with wildcard Fatma Al Nabhani or eighth seed Barbora Strycova.

The Australian scrapped to save a crucial break point at 5-5 and then capitalised on a sloppy Sevastova service game to take the first.

Stosur hung on in a mammoth service game in the second, which she took in a frenetic finish to go through.

Zhang Shuai and Timea Babos' scheduled game was moved to Tuesday as a result of the torrential weather.