Sabine Lisicki beat Renata Voracova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 Tuesday in her first match at the Family Circle Cup since she won the Charleston tournament two years ago for her first tour title.
Lisicki missed last year's tournament when she was sidelined for several months with an ankle injury that forced her to hobble around on crutches.
''Basically I had to learn to walk again,'' she said. ''That's why this match means so much to me, you know, after all that I went through and I came back and won my first match.''
The German wild card is down to No. 182 after her tour ranking dropped more than 150 places with last year's injury.
Play on the green clay at Daniel Island was delayed several hours as a line of thunderstorms passed through.
No. 5 seed Shahar Peer of Israel beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-1, 6-3, and No. 6 Yanina Wickmayer o0f Belgium, No. 9 seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 10th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and No. 11 Peng Shuai of China also advanced.
But 26th-ranked Alisa Kleybanova, the No. 8 seed, was eliminated by American Christina McHale, who called the 6-1, 6-0 victory ''definitely one of the biggest'' wins of her career.
Kirilenko beat American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-0, Hantuchova defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 7-6 (3), and Peng advanced past Ayumi Morita 6-2, 6-1.
No. 12 seed Julia Goerges of Germany and No. 15 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova also moved on. Zahlavova Strycova outlasted Czech countrywoman Andrea Hlavackova 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (6), and Goerges was leading 1-6, 7-5, 2-0 when Czech qualifier Eva Birnerova retired with an ankle injury.
Americans Melanie Oudin, Jamie Hampton, Jill Craybas and Vania King all lost. Tamira Paszek beat Oudin 6-1, 7-5, Edina Gallovits-Hall edged Hampton 7-6, 7-5, and Chanelle Scheepers defeated Craybas 6-3, 6-2. Sania Mirza rallied past King 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2 in a match that lasted 2 1/2 hours.
