Third seed Venus Williams came from behind to see off Yuliya Beygelzimer and reach the second round of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.
The 35-year-old American dropped the first set 6-2 before taking the second and the decider 6-4 6-4 to defeat her Ukrainian opponent in two hours and 13 minutes on Centre Court.
The five-time Wimbledon champion faces China’s Yafan Wang in round two after American Christina McHale retired hurt from their clash during the second set when 6-3 4-1 down.
Number two seed Angelique Kerber of Germany fought back for a 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 6-3 victory over against Italian Francesca Schiavone in two hours and 25 minutes.
Jelena Jankovic made easy work of Romania’s Ana Bogdan as the fourth-seeded Serbian claimed a 6-4 6-2 triumph, while sixth seed Daria Gavrilova of Russia fought back to defeat Japan’s Miyu Kato 6-7 (6/8) 7-5 6-3.
British number two Heather Watson had to battle through three sets to beat China’s Kai-Lin Zhang, eventually going through with a 3-6 6-1 6-2 win in two hours and seven minutes.
There were also wins on Tuesday for fifth seed Samantha Stosur of Australia, Frenchwomen Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet as well as Japan’s Kurumi Nara, who kicked out home wildcard Ling Zhang.