Daria still has Trophy hope

AUSTRALIAN Daria Gavrilova scored a critical first-round win at the Kremlin Cup to stay in the hunt for the Elite Trophy round-robin event.

Gavrilova recovered from losing the second set, where she blew five match points, to beat Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-4, 6-7 (7-5) 6-1 in Moscow.

Gavrilova and fellow Australian Ash Barty are fighting to secure qualification in the 12-player field for the season-ending showpiece in China.

Maria Sharapova was beaten by Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.