Former World No. 7 Nicole Vaidisova, 25, made a winning return to professional tennis on Tuesday, beating Sesil Karatantcheva in the first round of a $75,000 ITF Women's Circuit event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Broken only once, Vaidisova broke the Kazak's serve three times en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Karatantcheva, who had just reached the quarterfinals last week in Quebec City. The Czech announced that she'd be returning to professional tennis earlier this year on her Instagram account; her last professional match win came against American Laura Granville at the now-defunct Memphis event in 2010.

Despite being away from the game for nearly five years, Vaidsova still possessed some of the trademark shots that brought her into the top 10 as a teenager; her forehand was firing, and so was her trdemark temper. Unhappy with sloppy play early the match, Vaidisova bounced her racket on the ground in just the third game.

"Surreal, nerve-wracking!" Vaidisova told the WTA after the match. "I am so glad I got to play."

Vaidisova will next play on Thursday against the winner of No.3 seed Johanna Konta of Great Britain and American Julia Cohen.

Watch highlights of Vaidisova's return below!