New mother Naomi Osaka won the first match of her comeback by beating Tamara Korpatsch in straight sets at the Brisbane International.
She will face Karolina Pliskova next.
"I'm very proud of myself," said Osaka. "I feel like I played at a pretty good level. I think my opponent played really well as well."
Osaka moved impressively and hit the ball with familiar power in an accomplished return, but did show a few signs of nerves after opening up a 5-3 lead in the second set.
The 26-year-old became a little ragged and had to save two set points before winning a topsy-turvy tie-break 11-9 to set up a second-round meeting with fellow former world number one Pliskova.