Emma Raducanu made an impressive start to her Indian Wells campaign by recording a comprehensive straight-sets victory over Russian Anastasia Zakharova.
British number one Raducanu was all smiles as she waved to the crowd after completing the 6-1 6-3 win at the prestigious WTA 1,000 event in California.
The 23-year-old, who received a first-round bye as the 25th seed, could face world number six Amanda Anisimova in the third round - if the American can overcome Russian Anna Blinkova.
Following Raducanu's second-round exit at the Australian Open in January, the 2021 US Open champion reached only the second final of her career in Cluj but then failed to win a match in Doha or Dubai.
In a promising start to her Indian Wells campaign, she won 80% of points behind her first serve and conceded just six points across her four service games in a dominant first-set display.
The 86th-ranked Zakharova, 24, resisted a break point in the opening game of the second - but Raducanu held to love before forcing the breakthrough at the next opportunity.
Raducanu appeared in control throughout as she married clean ball striking with aggressive baseline play to close in on victory.
She was forced to withstand Zakharova's late resistance, losing serve for the first time when she served for the match, but responded by sealing victory on her opponent's serve in the next game.
The Briton's team in California included Mark Petchey, a former coach to Andy Murray and who previously joined Raducanu's team last March when she reached the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Raducanu told BBC Sport this week that she will be "tapping into a few people" for coaching advice going forward, after parting company with Francisco Roig.
The Briton remains open to recruiting another full-time coach - Spaniard Roig was the seventh full-time coach she has worked with - but on the condition that they do not seek to dictate the way she should play.
Victory for Raducanu comes after fellow British players Sonay Kartal and Jacob Fearnley reached the second round of the women's and men's singles draws respectively on Thursday.
