Jelena Jankovic opened her bid to gain the No. 1 ranking with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over American Vania King in the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California, on Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Serbian could replace fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic from the top spot by winning the tournament, her first since injuring her right knee at Wimbledon.
Jankovic was pushed in the first set before taking control in the second.
"My leg felt fine, I didn't have any pain," Jankovic said. "I felt a little bit slow when I was moving around, not so explosive like I'm used to. It's just a matter of feeling more comfortable."
The injury withdrawals of Serena and Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Svetlana Kuznetsova have taken much of the luster off this year's tournament.
Bethanie Mattek, who has improved her ranking almost 100 places since early April, took another step forward with a 6-4, 6-0 victory against 11th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova.
The 23-year-old Mattek has risen from 153rd to 59th in the WTA Tour rankings and will next take on Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who upset No. 6 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia also moved into the third round, beating Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-2. Eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, No. 9 Nadia Petrova of Russia, No. 10 Flavia Pennetta of Italy and No. 14 Sybille Bammer of Austria also advanced.
Seventh-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland was another shock exit, losing to Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 7-5; and 122nd-ranked Yuan Meng of China eliminated No. 16 Sania Mirza of India 6-4, 6-3.
(Shanghai Daily July 25, 2008)