British number one Emma Raducanu enjoyed her first victory since an early exit from the Australian Open – and subsequent split from coach Francis Roig.
The 23-year-old dominated Belgian Greet Minnen with a 6-0 6-4 success at the Winners Open in Romania.
Raducanu, the tournament’s top seed, sent down three aces and forced four breaks of serve across the 70 minutes of play.
She will next face Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan on Wednesday in the second round of the WTA 250 event.
The 2021 US Open champion was knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round last month after a disappointing 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 defeat by Anastasia Potapova.
That was followed by the end of her partnership with Spanish coach Roig, which left Raducanu searching for a 10th coach of her career.
Meanwhile, fellow Briton Sonay Kartal booked her place in the last 16 of the Abu Dhabi Open with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) victory over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
She will next face Switzerland’s top seed Belinda Bencic on Wednesday.
