Amelie Mauresmo made a good start on clay with a straight sets win over qualifier Olga Savchuk at Amelia Island.
Seeds make serene progress in first round at Amelia Island
Amelie Mauresmo made a good start on clay in 2008 with a straight sets win over qualifier Olga Savchuk at Amelia Island.
The 2001 champion, who also lost in the final on 2004, triumphed 6-0 7-5 in the opening round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships.
She looked on course to make rapid progress after taking the opening set in just 24 minutes.
However, Savchuk then raced into a 3-0 lead at the start of the second before Mauresmo battled back to seal victory, despite struggling on her own serve.
"I played a really good first set where I didn't let her take any control of the set," the former world number one said.
"In the second set I tried to do even more and I started to miss more. When she gained some confidence and it got a little more equal."
Seeds progress
Elsewhere on the opening day of the tournament, ninth seed Sybille Bammer battled past wildcard Anna Orlik 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
The Austrian seemed to be making serene progress when, already a set to the good, she blasted out to a 4-1 lead in the second.
Despite the fact she was playing in her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour main draw, Orlik rallied and eventually forced a tie break that Bammer won comfortably.
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova will face top seed Maria Sharapova in the second round after a 6-2 6-4 win over Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.
Virginie Razzano, the 13th seed, crushed Yuliana Fedak of the Ukraine 6-2 6-1, while 15th seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues ousted Argentina's Maria Emilia Salerni 6-4 6-3.
