Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa safely navigate opening match at the Charleston Open

World number five Ons Jabeur is through to the third round of the Charleston Open after making a winning start in a 6-3 6-3 triumph over Lesia Tsurenko on Tuesday.

Jabeur, a finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open this past season, received a bye through to the second round thanks to her status as the second seed, and she had to save three break points in the opening game of the match against Tsurenko.

After repelling the early push, Jabeur rattled off the first five games to take a commanding lead, and she secured another break to begin the second frame.

Meanwhile, with half of the field still completing their first-round matchups, 12th seed Paula Badosa proved too strong for Egypt's Mayar Sherif in a comfortable 6-3 6-1 victory.

The 2022 @CharlestonOpen finalist is back in the building and hitting tweeners @Ons_Jabeur | #CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/gv9g5EjRCl

— wta (@WTA) April 5, 2023

Spain's Badosa will play Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the second round after the promising 20-year-old took just 72 minutes to dispatch Russia's Evgeniya Rodina 6-3 6-2.

Rodina was the only loss from the four Russians in action on Tuesday, with Anna Kalinskaya defeating Alize Cornet 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2, 19-year-old Diana Shnaider eliminating Alycia Parks 6-4 6-3, and Varvara Gracheva prevailing 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 against Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Bernarda Pera advanced past Clare Liu 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 in one of the all-American showdowns, while ninth seed Madison Keys beat Emma Navarro 6-4 6-3 and Shelby Rogers took out Danielle Collins 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-1 in the others.

Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, handled the challenge of Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-1, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka came back to defeat Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-3 6-2.