Svetlana Kuznetsova, making a comeback after a six-month injury layoff, took another step forward on Wednesday with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Andrea Hlavackova in the opening round of the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament in California.

Kuznetsova, twice a grand slam champion and two times a runner-up in Indian Wells, did not play following Wimbledon last season due to a knee injury and the former world No.2 was ranked No.85 in early January.

She has moved to No.46 thanks largely to quarter-final showings in Sydney and at the Australian Open and can continue her climb with a win over No.18 Jelena Jankovic in the second round.

In contrast to Kuznetsova, the opening day wasn’t so good for the Americans. Mallory Burdette, a 22-year-old qualifier, was the only one of the quartet in action early on Wednesday to advance to the second round, and she did it by beating another American, 38-year-old Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-1.

Vania King, 24, started well by winning a first-set tiebreaker from Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain, but the Spanish Olympian rolled through the next two sets for a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-1 win. Lauren Davis, a 19-year-old Floridian, was a 6-2 6-0 loser to 21-year-old Simona Halep of Romania.

Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan, ranked 93rd in the world, sprang the first upset of the tournament by toppling No.42 Zheng Jie of China 6-1 6-2. Johanna Larson of Sweden, South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers and Olga Govortsova of Belarus were other first-day winners.

The women’s first round continues and the men’s first round gets underway on Thursday. All 32 seeded players in both the men’s and women’s fields have opening-round byes.

Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic are the reigning champions. Djokovic, a perfect 12-0 this year, is seeking his third straight Indian Wells title.