Emma Raducanu blasted her way past Belgium's Greet Minnen at the Transylvania Open in her first match since splitting from coach Francis Roig.
The 23-year-old hired Roig - Rafael Nadal's former coach - last summer, but said she was planning to "re-evaluate" her game following her second-round exit at the Australian Open.
Raducanu, who has struggled to find ​stability in her team since her stunning breakthrough at the 2021 US Open, was joined by former British professional player Alexis Canter as her coach in Romania and she looked relaxed in an impressive display as she swatted aside Minnen 6-0 6-4 in Romania on Monday.
Raducanu, who prematurely ended her 2025 season because of injury and illness, made a slow start to her season by losing her only match at the United Cup, before suffering a quarter-final exit at the Hobart International.
At the Australian Open, she defeated Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the opening round before losing to Anastasia Potapova in the second round.
But, back in Cluj-Napoca five years since her last appearance, Raducanu - who is the top seed - was in no mood to hang around as she won the opening set 6-0 in just 25 minutes.
Raducanu broke in the third game of the second set in which the Belgian put up a greater fight, but it was the British No 1 who eased through to set up a clash with Slovenian world No 97 Kaja Juvan on Wednesday.
"Very happy today. I think I played a great match from the beginning. I was super aggressive and the crowd from the minute I walked out was incredible," said the world No 30 in front of former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, who is an honorary ambassador of the tournament.
"I think today was a great performance. I wanted to put my game out on the court and it's a little bit easier indoors so I'm really pleased I could kind of use that. I played a really tricky opponent in Greet, who really starts the point well, so I knew I had to do the same and pleased that I stayed with it."
Following the tournament in Romania, Raducanu will head to the Middle East for the WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha [February 8-14] and Dubai [February 16-22] - both tournaments are live on Your Site.
She will then compete at Indian Wells and the Miami Open in March.
Your Site' commentator Jonathan Overend reflected on the aftermath of Raducanu's Australian Open exit:
"I think she has spent a lot of her young career re-evaluating. In one regard, it explains why she has been through so many coaches and why she has been criticised for it.
"It's typical of Raducanu that she wants to keep re-evaluating and finding out what is best for her on and around a tennis court. That challenge continues, and to some extent it is a struggle, because finding the right balance is so hard, but I think she is slowly getting [it], not in terms of her Grand Slam results but in terms of that re-evaluation process.
"What is it she really wants for herself on a tennis court and in tournaments?"
Sonay Kartal booked her place in the Abu Dhabi Open round of 16 with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) victory over Cristina Bucsa.
Kartal, who had come through two rounds of qualifiers, had been up 5-2 in the second set before Busca bounced back to force a tie-break.
The Briton next faces Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, the top seed, on Tuesday.
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