MADRID, Oct 24: Nicol David began her attempt to win the World Open title a third successive time by overcoming some fiery conditions and a feisty attack early on from France’s Isabelle Stoehr.

The world number one from Malaysia found her timing hard to come by in a first game in which she trailed 5-7 before winning 9-7, 9-3, 9-0 against an opponent who started impressively but fell away suddenly when David got on top.

The court was hot and the ball bouncy which made the rallies protracted but also made it difficult to keep tight to the wall. That made for some scrappy early exchanges until David began to settle down midway through the second game.

“I have not played on courts like that for a while,” David said. “It’s pretty standard courts everywhere we go, and yes, especially in the first game and a half you are trying to find the bounce and feel that ball.

“Isabelle took that ball well and made a really good start and I had to hang in there and make sure I got into my game and at the end she made quite a few errors and then I went in there and took my chance.”This started to happen when Stoehr was 7-5 up and attempted a forehand kill which just clipped the top of the tin. Had it been a winner, that game, and possibly even the match, might have taken a different course.

But Stoehr, who had been striking the ball beautifully and taking chances to apply pressure with volleys, then made two more errors, putting a drop down and then conceding a penalty stroke after volleying the ball too close to herself.

The second game became a slugging match until, after a series of lets, Stoehr made three more errors and David, confidence rising, played the shot of the match, a backhand volley boasted off the side wall and fading for a winner just above the tin.

That earned her game ball, which she took with another tinned shot from Stoehr, who served only once in a third game which lasted only five minutes.

People were often surprised by the weight of hitting from David, one of the tour’s smaller women. “Once I got the timing I feel fine in this court and I think on this court it sounds as though you are hitting it harder!” she said.

“But it’s a good start. Isabelle is a tough player to play and I am glad I pulled it off, as especially in the first game it was tight.”She was asked if she had changed a few things since last month’s shock British Open defeat to Rachael Grinham. “I’m just keeping to what I have to do and I’m trying to find my feet and hopefully things will get better,” she said a little mysteriously.

Earlier the third-seeded Grinham, whom David should meet again in Friday’s semi-finals, had to recover from 6-7 down in the second game before winning 9-3, 10-8, 9-5 against Louise Crome, a New Zealand qualifier.

But her younger sister Natalie Grinham, the second-seeded Commonwealth champion from Australia, had slightly the easier time of the three leading contenders, winning 9-3, 9-6, 9-5 against Dominique Lloyd-Walter, a young English player.

There was also a comfortable 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 win for Natalie Grainger, the former world number one from the United States, over Samantha Tern, a qualifier for Mexico - indeed much more comfortable than had seemed likely.

Grainger’s bags, including her rackets, had gone astray en route from London and she had to practice with a racket lighter than that to which she was used.

So although the kit arrived from the airport with only an hour to spare before the match, her normal racket felt too heavy.

“The Natalie Grainger model felt strange to Natalie Grainger,” she joked.

First round results: