With the US Open looming, Ashleigh Barty will put her hard-court form to the test at the Cincinnati Open after an opening round win over Marketa Vondrousova.
Australian 16th seed Barty won the important points against the Czech wild card to secure a 6-3 7-5 win in one hour and 32 minutes.
She joins fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the WTA event and will meet Estonian Kaia Kanepi, who defeated fellow qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 2-6 6-3 6-1 in the first round.
In the final women's match of the day, Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova thrilled the crowd with some high-quality tennis in a second-round match the Czech won 6-3 2-6 6-3.
In just her fifth tournament since she had a baby last September, Williams produced some trademark shots before Kvitova secured a passage into the last 16.
"I think it was a good match today," Williams said.. "We both played at a really high level. Only one person could win.
Kvitova, who will next play Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, a 6-3 6-0 winner over Viktoria Kuzmova, was thrilled to progress.
"It was a pleasure to share the court with Serena, she's such a champion," she said.
"We are both coming back - from injury, from motherhood - so it's something really special to play her."
Williams made the final of Wimbledon but has now lost early in her past two tournaments with the final grand slam of the year less than two weeks away.
"You know, this is a long comeback," she said.
"I'm getting there, and I'm going to just continue to work hard, and hopefully, I'll start winning more matches."
Fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina was tested by wild card Svetlana Kuznetsova before reaching the third round with a 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4 win.
French sixth seed Caroline Garcia overcame former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-5 to become the first player into the last 16.
In other first-round action, Czech ninth seed Karolina Pliskova snapped a seven-match losing streak against Agnieszka Radwanska by claiming a 6-3 6-3 win.
Belgian 15th seed Elise Mertens recorded a 6-4 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova while Greek Maria Sakkari continued her summer surge on tour with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) victory over world No.19 Naomi Osaka.
Others to progress to the second round on Tuesday were Ekaterina Makarova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Petra Martic, Camila Giorgi, Kiki Bertens, Tatjana Maria and Amanda Anisimova.
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