Naomi Osaka and Jasmine Paolini both passed stern examinations in the first round at Wimbledon, beating Talia Gibson and Anastasija Sevastova respectively.
Osaka, a four-time grand slam champion, has never been beyond the third round at Wimbledon and has not even got that far since 2018.
However, she will have the opportunity to match that achievement this year, having beaten Australia's Gibson 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in 96 minutes on Monday.
Osaka appeared to be in trouble when she gave up the first break to go 3-1 down in the opening set, but two breaks to love – in games six and 10 – flipped the script.
Osaka was also broken first in the second set, with Gibson later repeating the trick to move within a game of victory at 6-5, but the former world number one again broke to love before turning on the style in the resulting tie-break.
She could face fifth seed Zheng Qinwen in the second round, should she overcome Czechia's Katerina Siniakova in her opening match.
Paolini, meanwhile, had to come from behind to beat Sevastova 2-6 6-3 6-2 and tee up a second-round clash with Kamilla Rakhimova.
The Italian, who was beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in last year's final, was a distant second-best in the opening set then was swiftly broken at the start of the second.
However, Paolini immediately broke back in a three-deuce game and while she gave up another break in game seven, that was sandwiched between two further breaks of her own as she levelled up the contest.
The momentum was with Paolini from then on, and she started the decider with three straight breaks, squandering two match points on Sevastova's serve before finally getting the job done with the ball in hand.
Ninth seed Paula Badosa was less fortunate, though, falling at the first hurdle with a 6-2 3-6 6-4 defeat to home favourite Katie Boulter on Centre Court.
Boulter's aggressive approach paid off as she took the opening set in just 32 minutes, and though Badosa rallied to force a decider, the Brit came through a back-and-forth third set, taking advantage of her second match point as Badosa's backhand clipped the net.
Data Debrief: Paolini's streak continues as Badosa's ends
Coming into Wimbledon, Paolini and Badosa were among five players to have reached the third round of the women's singles at each of the last six grand slams, alongside Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
While Paolini survived a major scare, Badosa's poor form continued as Boulter teed up a second-round meeting with Solana Sierra.
Badosa has lost 18 matches so far in 2025, the most of any player in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings.
