LONDON, England - Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka all advanced in straight sets as the first round of The Championships kicked off on the legendary lawns of the All-England Club.
The No.2-seeded Li had some early trouble against Paula Kania, going down a break in the first set, but she rallied and eventually - and comfortably - made her way past the Polish qualifier, 7-5, 6-2.
It was Li's first match since her shock first round exit to Kristina Mladenovic at Roland Garros.
"I took 10 days off," Li said when asked what she had been doing since that loss. "No racquet, no physio, I just stayed with my friend and took a vacation. And it felt pretty good. Afterwards I felt more fresh, because I felt the pressure during the French Open and I couldn't handle it anymore."
Another two-time Grand Slam champion toughed out a tricky two-setter, with No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka rallying from 3-5 and a set point in the second set to beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-3, 7-5.
"I'm just happy to be able to play again," Azarenka, who had played just two matches since Australia due to a foot injury, said. "This is what I love to do. The best feeling is playing pain free - and that's what's important to me. Getting my game together and the timing is a long process, but the important thing is I'm here, and I'm 100%. My focus, desire and concentration are all there right now.
"I was just really happy to play. It's a beautiful court. It's a beautiful tournament."
Former Wimbledon winners Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams, who are in a third round collision course, also advanced, the No.6-seeded Kvitova cruising past Andrea Hlavackova, 6-3, 6-0, and the No.30-seeded Williams battling past María-Teresa Torró-Flor in an entertaining one, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
"It was great," Williams said. "My opponent played amazing. She was just playing so well and going for everything, so it was definitely a challenge today against someone who was playing inspired tennis."
No.10 seed Dominika Cibulkova, No.12 seed Flavia Pennetta, No.22 seed Ekaterina Makarova, No.23 seed Lucie Safarova and No.32 seed Elena Vesnina were also among the winners on Day 1 of play.
