Eugenie Bouchard and seeds Dominika Cibulkova and Monica Niculescu were among the first-round winners on day one of the Hobart International.
But Madison Brengle and Barbora Strycova, seeded fifth and sixth respectively, slumped out of the tournament, the former after retiring due to a respiratory illness when trailing 6-0 1-1. Strycova lost 6-4 6-4 to Sweden's Johanna Larsson.
Cibulkova was the highest seed in action at number three and the Slovakian battled to a 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 win over Britain's Johanna Konta. Konta had led 6-1 in the first-set tie-break while the second set contained seven service breaks.
Fourth seed Niculescu won 7-5 7-5 against American Christina McHale and the Romanian will face British opposition in round two after Heather Watson beat Brazil's Teliana Pereira 6-3 6-0.
Unseeded Bouchard, who has dropped to 47th in the world rankings following a 2015 disrupted by a serious concussion, enjoyed a routine 6-2 6-1 win over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Australian wild card Kimberly Birrell, ranked 341st in the world, produced a notable result for the home crowd to enjoy when she beat world number 55 Danka Kovinic 6-4 6-3.
Ninth seed Mona Barthel won 6-4 6-4 against Misaki Doi and there were also wins for fellow German Annika Beck, Japanese pair Naomi Osaka and Nao Hibino and Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg.
Source: PA
