Olympic champion Elena Dementieva had to work to get past Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 7-5, advancing into the second round of the US Open on Monday, a week after her Beijing triumph.
The Russian who defeated compatriot Dinara Safina for the Olympic gold medal, was forced to save a pair of set points in the second set, eventually taking the win over the number 79 on just under 90 minutes, the dpa reported.
She next faces France's Pauline Parmentier, who beat Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
Dementieva has stalled on the Grand Slam major stage twice, losing 2004 finals at New York and Paris. But with an improved serve she stormed to gold in the Olympic tennis week.
Veteran Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder advanced over Czech Anastasia Pivovarova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
In early men's results, Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer overwhelmed Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6- 2, while Frenchman Gael Monfils, an Olympic quarter-finalist, beat Pablo Cuevan of Uruguay 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.