Top seed Carolina Wozniacki has been pushed to the brink at the Japan Open, but battled into the second round with a 4-6 6-0 6-3 victory over Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
The world's 16th-ranked player, Wozniacki is looking for a better performance in her return to Tokyo. Two weeks ago, the 18-year-old Dane lost in straight sets to Katarina Srebotnik in the opening round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Wozniacki also struggled last week in Beijing, where she lost her first-round match with Anabel Medina Garrigues. She will next face Japanese wild card Ayumi Morita in the second round.
Third-seeded Zheng Zie had been playing well on home soil in China recently, but that run of success came to an abrupt end here on Tuesday when she was stunned, 6-1 6-2, by Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening round.
A semi-finalist in Guangzhou and Beijing during the past two weeks, Zheng reached a career-best ranking of 26th on Monday.
However, she struggled against the 17-year-old, converting just 11 of 31 first-serve points.
Ranked 76th in the world, Pavlyuchenkova converted seven of eight break points and closed out the match in an hour to set up a meeting with fellow qualifier Rika Fujiwara of Japan.
The other surprise was turned in by Klara Zakopalova, who ousted the fourth-seeded Maria Kirilenko 4-6 6-2 7-5 to earn her first win in four meetings with the Russian.
The unseeded Czech, who faces Marta Domachowska of Poland next, has not won a title since claiming her second at the Tier IV event in Portoroz three years ago.
Sixth seed Shahar Peer of Israel, a potential semi-final opponent for the No.1 Wozniacki, posted a decisive 6-3 6-1 victory over Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm.
Other seeds moving into the second round were number seven Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand and eighth-seeded Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.
In the men's event, unseeded Israeli Dudi Sela posted a 7-5 6-1 win over Germany's Bjorn Phau in one of 12 first-round matches played on Tuesday.
Sela made headlines last week at the China Open where he reached his first career final before falling to Andy Roddick.
The 23-year-old upset three seeded players, including David Ferrer, en route to the showdown with Roddick and was bidding to become the first player from Israel to win an ATP singles title since Amos Mansdorf did so at Washington in 1993.
Next up for Sela, who jumped from 92nd to 66th in the rankings on Monday, is fifth-seeded Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro.
Unseeded Jesse Levine was one of three Americans to move advance from the first round on Tuesday as he rallied for a 4-6 6-1 6-0 win over Thai qualifier Danai Udomchoke.
Wayne Odesnik and Bobby Reynolds also advanced, but fellow Americans Robert Kendrick, Donald Young, Kevin Kim and Brendan Evans were eliminated.
WTA First Round Singles, Japan Open, Tokyo
1-Caroline Wozniacki (Danmark) def. Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 4-6 6-0 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) def. 3-Zheng Jie (China) 6-1 6-2
Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) def. 4-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 4-6 6-2 7-5
6-Shahar Peer (Israel) def. Kimiko Date Krumm (Japan) 6-3 6-1
7-Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) def. Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-1 6-3
8-Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) def. Jill Craybas (USA) 7-5 6-7 (7-2) 6-3
Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) def. Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-4 3-6 6-3
Camille Pin (France) def. Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-0 7-5
Rika Fujiwara (Japan) def. Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 7-6 (8-6)