Drawing on all her knowledge of how hard it is to come back from major shoulder surgery, Casey Dellacqua powered past former world No.2 Vera Zvonareva on Monday and into the second round of the Australian Open.
The Perth left-hander enjoyed her career high at Melbourne Park in 2008 when she rode a wave of emotion all the way to the round of 16.
A year later, Dellacqua endured the low of a full shoulder reconstruction, giving her a special insight into the plight of Zvonareva, who only returned to the WTA Tour in late December after a 17-month lay-off.
"That first big match or first big tournament coming back, I know how it feels," said Dellacqua after her 6-2 6-2 win.
"I have been there and done that.
"I wanted to make her play as many balls as I could, to make her feel like she was under a lot of pressure and create a few errors on her side.
"She's obviously not at the level that she was when she was No.2 in the world but she's still a quality opponent."
Also through are fellow Australians Matthew Ebden, who survived a mid-match lull to beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-3 7-5 4-6 0-6 6-3, and 17th seed Samantha Stosur.
Stosur had to produce a second-set fightback to turn the tables on Klara Zakopalova and win 6-3 6-4, after the Czech had downed her in Hobart three days earlier.
Other Australians Jordan Thompson, Jarmila Gajdosova and Sam Groth lost.
Dellacqua - who won the Open wildcard play-off event in December - sensed it was going to be her day when she won a marathon third game in the second set after successfully challenging a line call.
Zvonareva, a Wimbledon and US Open finalist in 2010, has spent much of the last year and a half undergoing rehabilitation on her shoulder.
"I'm definitely too far away from my level in 2010, but that's normal and hopefully if I work hard I will get back to where I want to be," she said.
Dellacqua's second-round opponent will be 2013 Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium.
Thompson, making his Australian Open debut after winning the men's wildcard play-off, seemed set to produce a huge upset when he raced to a two-set lead against Polish 20th seed Jerzy Janowicz.
But he lost his serve for the first time to lose the third set, in what proved a giant momentum swing as Janowicz went on to win 1-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-1.
Gajdosova blew a golden opportunity to break her duck at the Australian Open, losing a seesawing three-setter to German ninth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 0-6 6-2.
Gajdosova has never won a singles match at the Australian Open in nine attempts.
"I came close enough to win, but unfortunately I didn't," she said.
Her ex-husband Groth didn't come as close in his 6-4 6-3 6-4 loss to Canadian 28th seed Vasek Pospisil.
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