The 24-year-old Bychkova edged No.3 seed Ioana Raluca Olaru, 75 75, her first main draw match win on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour since the 2008 US Open. Olaru, who won the pair’s only previous meeting in Eastbourne qualifying last year, was a quarterfinalist here the last two years.

"I’m very excited about my win, really excited," Bychkova said. "I had two very tough years, going from the Top 100 to suddenly being around No.190. It was difficult to digest, but I guess that’s part of the professional circuit. Beating Olaru is a big win for me. It’s also sweet revenge for me, as she had beaten me in Eastbourne last year."

Next up for Bychkova is Akgul Amanmuradova, who by topping qualifier Ksenia Lykina, 61 46 63, was responsible for the only Russian to lose Tuesday. The other victorious Russians were Vesna Manasieva, Evgeniya Rodina, Ekaterina Ivanova - who takes on top-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova in the second round - and qualifier Alexandra Panova, a quarterfinalist in Guangzhou last week.

Seeded winners were Shvedova, No.6 seed Monica Niculescu - a quarterfinalist here last year - and No.7 seeded Patricia Mayr, all of whom won in straight sets.

In addition to the second round getting underway, second-seeded Shahar Peer, fresh off her title in Guangzhou, and fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova play the last two first round matches on Wednesday.