Ana Ivanovic, the Williams sisters and Dinara Safina all went happily through to the next round, but the top seeded Serb had some trouble and nearly made bad history.
Ivanovic nearly became the first top seed in the Open Era to lose in a first round match, but she was lucky to get through against tough opponent Vera Dushevina in a thrilling three-setter, 61 46 64.
"I'm very, very happy, because just to be here and to be able to compete is a great achievement," said Ivanovic, who has been struggling with a right thumb injury over the last few months, which caused her recent withdrawal from the Olympics in Beijing. "I only started practicing this Monday; so I thought I did pretty well. When I first went on the court I was very excited and started to play really well. Obviously lack of practice showed a little bit later, but I'm thrilled to have an opportunity to slowly get into tournament."
Serena and Venus Williams had easy matches on their debut day, as they both won in stra
ight sets, the younger Williams beating Kateryna Bondarenko, 61 64; while the older Williams won to Samantha Stosur in the night session, 62 63."I am just taking it one match at a time; I'm just happy to have this one over with," Serena said. "This tournament I'm feeling great. I'm feeling confident and really, really, really enjoying myself. I love every moment out there."
"I think she played well; her game plan was just to go for everything, and I think sometimes it worked, but maybe it was just a little too much," Venus said. "I thought I just played really straightforward tonight. Nothing super special. I didn't try anything too crazy. If anything, I tried something a little opposite than I usually try - I tried to be a little more consistent, so that was something new."
"I think she played well; her game plan was just to go for everything, and I think sometimes it worked, but maybe it was just a little too much," Venus said. "I thought I just played really straightforward tonight. Nothing super special. I didn't try anything too crazy. If anything, I tried something a little opposite than I usually try - I tried to be a little more consistent, so that was something new."
Safina, who is the won her last 32 out of 36 matches, made it 33 out of 37, after winning to American wildcard Kristie Haerim Ahn, 63 64.
"It was difficult match because I never saw her play before, and actually she was a good player, so that was a little bit unexpected," Safina said. "It was pretty windy too, so I'm happy that I could play two sets and win my match."
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