Dubai champion Jelena Ostapenko is off and running in Doha. The newly-minted World No.13 secured a sixth straight victory overall in the Middle East with a 6-4, 6-2 first-round win over France's Oceane Dodin on Tuesday at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.

Ostapenko, seeded No.15 and a former finalist in Doha, didn't have it all her own way against the French qualifier and World No.93. Dodin led 3-0, with a double break advantage, in the opener before Ostapenko won four straight games to steal the set. 

She rounded into form on serve by the time the 82-minute match concluded—she landed 66% of her first serves and hit eight aces—while a plethora of break point chances helped her cause. In all, Ostapenko had 17 break points against Dodin's serve, and she broke six times. 

Turning point: In particular, the last three games of the first set were among the match's most competitive. Dodin had a point for 5-3 on serve before Ostapenko broke back to level at 4-4, and the Latvian saved four break points in an ensuing five-deuce game to take her first lead of the match.

She ultimately needed five set points to win the set in a titanic 10th game, in which Dodin also had a point for 5-5. 

Read more from WTA Insider: The numbers behind Ostapenko's resurgence in Dubai

Up next: After ousting one aggressive baseline in her first match, another awaits Ostapenko in her second. Should she want to secure a seventh straight win, she'll need to beat American Amanda Anisimova, who was a straight-sets winner against Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia on Sunday. The two have never played. 

Garcia beats Halep for just second time

For her own berth in the second round, France's Caroline Garcia emerged victorious against Simona Halep for just the second time in nine career meetings.

Highlights: Garcia def. Halep

The current World No.76 and former Top 5 player found some of her best form in recent seasons in a 6-4, 6-3 win against the 2014 Doha champion and former World No.1, her first win in their all-time head-to-head in more than four years. 

Garcia, Doha R1

Paul Zimmer/Qatar TotalEnergies Open

Serve's the key: Garcia managed to hit through blustery conditions on Doha's Centre Court and avoided all potential pitfalls on serve. Both players had nine break points in the match but it was Garcia who saved every one that she faced, allowing her single break in each set to stand up over the course of 93 minutes. She also hit 30 winners to Halep's 14.

Words from the winner: "It was a very good match on my part. It was very tricky with the wind and cold weather ... and against Simona, it's always a great battle against her," Garcia said.

"Today, I was very happy to stay very aggressive and positive every point. She had a good week in Dubai last week and in Australia as well, so she's full of confidence. I didn't win a lot of matches at the beginning of the year; it was kind of complicated for me, but every match is a match and you have to fight from the first point to the last one. I did it very good today and I'm very pleased with my performance. 

"I'm working every day and hopefully I can get some more wins, more confidence and play better ... I'm very pleased to be able to come back tomorrow."

Historic head-to-head: Garcia's only win over Halep came during the best stretch of her career in the fall of 2017, where she won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Wuhan and Beijing en route to a career-high ranking of World No.4. She beat Halep in straight sets for the trophy in Beijing, but since, she'd only won two sets in their next five meetings. 

A longtime head-to-head deficit wasn't the only thing Garcia turned around with the victory. Dating back to the start of 2021, she had lost 18 of 20 matches against players ranked in the Top 50.

Her win against current World No. 27 Halep is her second win against a Top 30 player this year, having also beaten then-No.22 Jessica Pegula in Sydney. She earns a meeting with No.14 seed and world No.23 Coco Gauff up next, as the teenager came through an all-American clash with compatriot Shelby Rogers.