Pesotska produced a superb display to send the 29-year-old Romanian, European champion in 2015, crashing out of the tournament at the Pabellón Pedro Ferrándiz.

The Ukrainian recorded an 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7 win, with Samara one of several past winners of the event to fall at the first hurdle.

Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian, who won the tournament in 1998 and 2002 and was seeded 10th in the Spanish city, was beaten 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 14-12 by Serbia's Izabela Lupulesku.

Belarusian Viktoria Pavlovich, also a two-time European gold medallist, lost 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 16-14, 5-11, 11-8 to France's Stéphanie Loueillette.

Top seed Sofia Polcanova of Austria had no such worries as she cruised into the second round, beating Luxembourg’s Danielle Konnsbruck 6-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7.

In the men's event, Germany's Timo Boll showed little sign of rustiness as he overcame Switzerland's Lionel Weber in his first competitive outing since June.

Boll, the top seed, beat the Swiss player 11-7, 6-11, 13-11, 11-1, 11-6.

"I was not expecting a lot from myself," the German said.

"For a first time I played against Weber, so it was difficult for me. 

"I struggled with my return game at the beginning and I was not very happy with my movements, but I hope it will improve as the Championships progresses, one step at the time."

The competition is due to continue tomorrow.