Svetlana Kuznetsova launched her title defence with a straight-sets victory over Irina-Camelia Begu at the Apia International Sydney.
The fifth seed dispatched Romania's Begu 6-1 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with either Sam Stosur or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Sydney tournament suffered several withdrawals, with Belinda Bencic forced to retire from her first-round clash due to a toe problem, with Yulia Putintseva progressing to face either Caroline Wozniacki or Monica Puig.
America's Sloane Stephens had to withdraw with a foot problem before the competition even started, and will now miss the Australian Open.
Bencic, however, moved to downplay fears of any lasting injury, tweeting a video of a nastily-cracked nail.
"Sorry for posting such a disgusting thing, just so people can stop inventing new 'Bencic is injured again' stories," Bencic posted on Twitter.
Daria Kasatkina beat Timea Babos 3-6 6-4 6-2 to progress to the second round, with Eugenie Bouchard prevailing over Shuai Zhang 7-6 (7/1) 6-2.
At the Hobart International, fifth seed Misaki Doi was dumped out in the first round by wildcard Lizette Cabrera. Home favourite Cabrera won out 6-4 5-7 7-5.
American Shelby Rogers dispatched second seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-2 1-6 6-4, while Monica Niculescu eased past Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-3 and Galina Voskoboeva eased out Pauline Parmentier 6-4 6-3.
Source: PA
