WTA Tour veteran Patty Schnyder stormed past American wild card Amber Liu 6-1 6-1 in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic.
The fifth-seeded Swiss made quick work of Liu, dispatching the 328th-ranked player in just 44 minutes.
The 29-year-old Schnyder, ranked 13th in the world, was coming off a disappointing opening-round loss to Casey Dellacqua at Wimbledon.
Schnyder is hoping for better results at this Tier II event, where she was runner-up two years ago. In five prior performances here, she has won eight of 13 contests and she reached the semi-final in 2005 and the quarter-final in 2007.
The only remaining American is top-seeded Serena Williams. Monday proved to be a difficult day for the host country and was followed by Liu's exit.
The biggest name to bow out was Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew due to a troublesome right knee. The 32-year-old won this event in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
Opening-round losses by Ashley Harkleroad and wild card Alexa Glatch capped the bad opening day for the US.
Davenport was replaced in the draw by Australian Samantha Stosur, who defeated Russia's Anastasia Rodionova 6-3 6-1 in the first round.
British number one Anne Keothavong defeated India's Sania Mirza 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 and will meet Marion Bartoli in the next round.
Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova beat seventh seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4 3-6 6-3 while Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada topped eighth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 2-6 6-3 6-2.
Michelle Larcher ousted Gisela Dulko 7-5 7-6 (7-1), and will face Williams, who received a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds.
Defending champion and second seed Anna Chakvetadze will meet Israel's Shahar Peer, a 7-5 6-0 winner over Melinda Czink of Hungary.
WTA Bank of the West Classic, Stanford California Results - Day 2
Women’s Singles – Round 1
5-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) d. Amber Liu (USA) 6-1 6-1
Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) d. 7-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-4 3-6 6-3
Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) d. 8-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 2-6 6-3 6-2
Samantha Stosur (Australia) d. Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-3 6-1
M Larcher de Brito (Portugal) vs. G Dulko (Argentina) 7-5 7-6 (7-1)
S Peer (Israel) vs. M Czink (Hungary) 7-5 6-0
Anne Keothavong (Great Britain) d. Sania Mirza (India) Sania Mirza 7-6 (7-4) 6-1