Victoria Azarenka drew on her battling qualities to beat Risa Ozaki in her first competitive match since the birth of her first child at the Mallorca Open on Wednesday.

Azarenka has been absent from the WTA Tour since the French Open last year, but made up for lost time by staving off three match points to defeat Ozaki 6-3 4-6 7-6 (9-7).

The two-time Australian Open champion, whose son, Leon, was born last December, was 5-4 down in the final set when bad light prevented the first-round match from being finished on Tuesday.

Former world number one Azarenka broke back to stay in the contest and fended off a trio of match points to force a tie-break, which she won after being 5-3 down.

Azarenka hit 30 winners and broke seven times in a victorious comeback and will take on seventh seed Ana Konjuh in round two.