Venus Williams reached the second round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston with a 6-4 6-3 victory over qualifier Iveta Benesova.
The 31-year-old received a wildcard invitation into the event and is looking to rebuild her ranking after being diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder Sjogren syndrome.
The American made it to the quarter-finals in Miami on her return to action last week and required 79 minutes to get past the 44th-ranked Benesova.
But Williams, who won the Charleston event eight years ago, will face a tougher test in the shape of seventh-seed Jelena Jankovic in the second round.
The Serbian received a bye past the first round.
"This is great for me to be in another match and to be in the second round," Williams said. "For me it's just about having energy at this point. I try not to worry about tomorrow.
"I'm very happy I'm on the right road, but I'm very unhappy I didn't do more in Miami.
"That's the past. There's so many opportunities going forward and I try to focus on the forward and focus on every day and today's win takes me closer."
Also on Tuesday, Belgian 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer beat American Vania King 6-4 6-3 while fourth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva destroyed Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-1 6-1 to become the first player through to the third round.
She was later joined by second seed Sam Stosur, who beat Jamie Hampton 6-0 7-5, and eighth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who saw off Eleni Daniilidou 3-6 6-4 6-4.
