Monday 4 January 2016 14:03, UK
Victoria Azarenka breezed past Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-0 in the Brisbane International to set up a second-round showdown against top seed Simona Halep.
Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion and former world No 1, has been plagued by injuries in the last two years and has dropped to 22 in the rankings.
But Azarenka, playing for the first time since the Wuhan Open in September, looked in excellent form against the tricky Vesnina, breaking her six times to book her place in the second round.
She will have a much sterner test against former French Open finalist Halep, who had a first-round bye.
Australian Sam Stosur had a much more difficult match and narrowly avoided disappointment on home turf by battling through a wrist injury to claim an opening victory.
The former US Open champion recovered from 0-3 down in the final set to beat Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-4 3-6 6-4 to start her year.
The 31-year-old has frequently failed to hit the heights on home turf, having never won a tournament or progressed past the fourth round at the Australian Open.
The world No 27 looked set for another disappointment before a spirited effort saw off the world No 147 and set up a second-round clash with Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.
"I am really pleased to walk away with a win, especially being down in that third set and then find that ability to come back and play well and win it when you are down, to turn things around," Stosur said.
Italy's Roberto Vinci, who ended Serena Williams's bid for a calendar grand slam in the US Open semi-finals last year, beat former world No 1 Jelena Jankovic 3-6 6-2 6-4.
Russian Maria Sharapova is the tournament's biggest draw card and she will kick off her campaign on Tuesday against compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.
