2010 Wimbledon finalist and former World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva emerged the big winner as main draw play got underway at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.
Re-joining the tour for the first time since 2015, Zvonareva started her comeback on the ITF Pro Circuit events before early qualifying losses in new Haven and at the US Open, before reaching the finals in the WTA $125k event in Dalian.
The Russian qualifier came from a set down to knock out the No. 4 seed Irina-Camelia Begu.
No. 5 seed Marketa Vondrousova, who catapulted herself up the rankings earlier this year when she won her maiden title in Biel, ranked No. 233 in the world advanced with ease against Misa Eguchi.
Top two seeds Kristyna Pliskova and Timea Babos get their campaigns underway on Tuesday with defending champion Pliskova looking for consistency, having no back-to-back main draw wins at a tour level since reaching the Mallorca quarter-final before Wimbledon.