Garbine Muguruza has ended New Zealand's interest in the Australian Open singles with a straight-sets first-round defeat of Marina Erakovic.
Erakovic, the world No.110 put up a fight before succumbing 7-5 6-4 to the French Open champion at Melbourne Park on Monday.
"I think this match was definitely more mental in certain situations ... so I'm pretty pleased," Murguruza said.
"Even though I had a set point against in the first set and then I was 4-1 down, I had to really forget about that and try to bring the best I had there.
"It was a weird match. I felt a little bit nervous at the beginning. I think she was playing great."
Murguruza hit 27 winners and broke her opponent four times on her way to the win on Margaret Court Arena.
The Spaniard suffered a setback in her preparation when she was forced out of her semi-final clash against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet at the Brisbane International with a thigh strain.
The 23-year-old admitted the injury played on her mind during her opening match of the Open.
"I was happy to win the first set and then I just felt a little bit uncomfortable," she said.
"I just thought I'd take some precautions (because) of what happened in Brisbane and over the next days.
"I took a medical time-out and became a little bit unfocused to the court and it took me a couple of games to get into the match again.
"It was good that I can turn it around in that second set, even though I was 4-1 down."
The seventh seed advances to a second-round meeting on Wednesday with American Samantha Crawford.
