Maria Sharapova moved into the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland after beating Italy's Alberta Brianti. Brianti was a last-minute call-up to face the Russian after fifth seed Anastasija Sevastova pulled out of the tournament due to illness, forcing the draw to be reshuffled.
Carla Suarez Navarro, Sharapova's original opponent, became the eighth seed with Brianti, who lost earlier in the day in qualifying to Britain's Heather Watson, entering the main draw as a lucky loser.
And she certainly made the most of the opportunity with a plucky display against the former world number one before eventually going down 6-2 6-3.
Sharapova was simply relieved to have got 2011 off to a winning start and played down the significance of her match being delayed by two hours due to the change of opponent.
"I've been on the tour for many years and, by now, I'm really used to it," she said.
"I've often played after the guys at tournaments and been warming up at two sets to none, only to wait around for another three hours.
"That's the way it goes and you just have to be ready."
Next up, Sharapova meets Czech Renata Voracova, who beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 4-6 7-6 (10/8) 6-0.
Another Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded third in Auckland, progressed with a 6-4 6-2 win over home hope Sacha Jones while Briton Anne Keothavong hit back to beat Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 6-0.
Forty-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm lost 6-4 6-3 to Kateryna Bondarenko and Shuai Peng thrashed Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-3.
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