Kim Clijsters, who won the Brisbane tournament in 2010 in a classic final, blasted through the first set then held off Simona Halep in the second set to win 6-1, 6-4.

When questioned on how important match practice was to her as she missed the later half of the season due to an injury, Clijsters said, “ It's important for me to get back into that kind of match rhythm, I think it's difficult to get into that rhythm of playing matches a couple of days in a row. I would like to have that opportunity here. Obviously if not, it doesn't happen but it would be nice to achieve that.”

Clijsters was content with her performance in the first round, “For a first match this was pretty good. In the second set there were a few little errors that I need to focus on in my next match, but overall I had a good feeling, I felt that I was playing aggressively, so I was pretty happy with that.”                                                                                            

On the men's front, third seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov put aside Alejandro Falla of Colombia to reach the second round. The first set was close as Dolgopolov took the set in a tiebreak and then overpowered the Colombian in the second to ease to a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win.

Also on the list of winners was wildcard James Duckworth who upset Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4 in his first ever match on the main ATP tour. Duckworth was only granted a wildcard when a late withdrawal saw Matthew Ebden elevated to the main draw.

Duckworth took full advantage, coming back from 1-4 down in the first set to win five games in a row and breaking Mahut once in the second for a convincing victory. “I had a pretty good preparation, I had a few tough weeks of training and got myself in the best possible shape I could. I was fully prepared to play qualifying here -- I only got into the main draw at the last minute.”