Top seed Jelena Jankovic showed little sign of the illness that affected her Australian Open preparations when she stormed to a comfortable 6-1 6-3 first round victory over Austria's Yvonne Meusburger.
Jankovic withdrew from an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong earlier this month after falling ill and said before the tournament began she felt an intense six-week strength and fitness regime would help her this year.
'The first matches are the toughest for me, especially (as) I haven't played for about two months,' she told reporters. 'So it's nice to get going and get off to a good start.'
Jankovic romped away with the first set with Meusburger seemingly unable to find her range on her serve, winning just six points.
The Austrian, however, put up a better performance in the second set, though she still gave up 12 break opportunities, four of which Jankovic converted.
Jankovic sealed victory on her third match point, when Meusburger hit an overhead forehand volley into the net while she had the world number one scrambling around the baseline.
'I played well in the first set,' said Jankovic. '(But I) slowed down (and) lost my concentration in the second.
'But it's all right. You know, it comes with playing matches, getting the routine, and just the whole rhythm out there.
'So I'm happy to get through, and (am) looking forward to my next round.'
Jankovic will meet next meet Belgium's Kristen Flipkens, who beat Paraguay's Rossana De Los Rios 6-3 6-2.
Doing enough but failing to dazzle, Ana Ivanovic safely navigated the first round with a 7-5 6-3 win over Julia Goerges.
The 21-year-old Serb, runner-up at Melbourne Park 12 months ago, struggled with her serve, had difficulty finding her range on groundstrokes and was generally given the runaround by her 107th-ranked opponent before squeaking through in 102 minutes.
If the mark of a champion is to win when playing poorly, the former world number one could be stamping her name on the Open trophy in a little under two weeks' time.
'I don't expect myself to step on the court and play perfect tennis from very first moment,' Ivanovic said.
'You just want to give yourself the best possible chance and give time to work yourself into the tournament.
'I'm very pleased to have a victory, obviously. I took some time to adjust to rhythm and everything, to slowly get into the match, because I never played against her before. Actually never seen her play.'
Russian third seed Dinara Safina outfought compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round.
Selected results:
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (Fra) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Rep) 6-3 6-4
Edina Gallovits (Rom) bt Maria Elena Camerin (Ita) 6-3 2-6 6-3
26-Ai Sugiyama (Jap) bt Stephanie Dubois (Can) 6-0 7-6
Jelena Dokic (Aus) bt Tamira Paszek (Aust) 6-2 3-6 6-4
Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) bt 23-Agnes Szavay (Hun) 6-3 3-6 6-4
Monica Niculescu (Rom) bt Katie O'Brien (UK) 6-4 6-4
Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) bt Rossana De Los Rios (Par) 6-3 6-2
1-Jelena Jankovic (Ser) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aust) 6-1 6-3
16-Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Melanie South (UK) 6-2 6-4
Andrea Petkovic (Ger) bt Kathrin Woerle (Ger) 5-7 7-6(0) 4-0 (ret)
25-Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Kimiko Date Krumm (Jap) 6-4 4-6 8-6
Nathalie Dechy (Fra) bt Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukr) 6-3 6-0
Alberta Brianti (Italy) bt Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) 6-4 6-2
7-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (Slov) 7-6(2) 6-0
5-Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt Julia Goerges (Ger) 7-5 6-3
15-Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Mariya Koryttseva (Ukr) 6-3 6-4
Sara Errani (Ita) bt 27-Maria Kirilenko (Rus) 6-0 6-4
Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) bt Mariana Duque Marino (Col) 6-3 6-2
11-Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Shahar Peer (Isr) 6-3 6-2
3-Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-3 6-4
10-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) 6-3 7-6(3)
29-Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Swe) 7-5 7-5
Lucie Safarova (Czech Rep) bt 24-Sybille Bammer (Aust) 6-3 6-1
19-Daniela Hantuchova (Slov) bt Casey Dellacqua (Aus) 7-6(11) 6-4
