Caroline Wozniacki beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the New Haven Open – the final hardcourt event before the US Open.
Wozniacki, the four-time defending champion, didn’t get a bye this year after being seeded third behind Agnieszka Radwanska and Petra Kvitova.
She will face Sofia Arvidsson in the second round after the Swede beat Melanie Oudin 6-4 6-1.
Sara Errani struggled in the second set, but rallied for a straight-sets win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
The fourth-seeded French Open finalist took the first set 6-4, then rallied from a 2-5 deficit to win five consecutive games to take the second 7-5.
Number seven seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia had an easier time, winning her first-round match 6-2 6-2 over Shahar Peer of Israel.
In other first-round action, Mona Barthel of Germany downed Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 7-5, fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova accounted for Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 7-5 6-3, Andrea Petkovic of Germany beat Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-3 5-7 7-5, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus knocked out Russia’s Vera Dushevina 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2.
Playing in only the third WTA main draw of her career, Nicole Gibbs also won, beating fellow qualifier Alexa Glatch 6-4 1-6 6-4.