Two former Top 10 players got their clay-court seasons off on the right foot at the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open on Tuesday as Sofia Kenin and Maria Sakkari both won their opening matches in straight sets. 

Charleston: Draws | Scores | Order of play 

Sakkari kicked off the day's slate of play inside Credit One Stadium with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Canadian wild card Marina Stakusic, before Kenin followed her with a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow American Bernarda Pera -- setting the two up for intriguing second-round matches against in-form seeded opponents.

Read on for more takeaways from the day's early action in Charleston.

Sakkari hopes to find form at a happy haunt: Appearing at the tournament for a fourth time, Sakkari is looking for momentum as the clay-court season begins. This time last year, Sakkari was seeded third in Charleston, and ranked No. 7, and made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Danielle Collins.

Now ranked No. 64 after a shoulder injury ended her 2024 season after the US Open, and with a 6-11 match record this season, the Greek is hoping her return to Charleston serves as a springboard for the rest of 2025. In addition to reaching the semifinals last year, Sakkari also reached the quarterfinals in 2019.

Sakkari did find a spark against 19-year-old Stakusic, though, as she began the match trailined 3-0, 0-30. She won seven straight games en route to setting a second-round showdown with World No. 7 Zheng Qinwen.

"I'm so happy that even though I was a double break down in the first set, I managed to turn things around," Sakkari said post-match. "After that, I started playing some great tennis. It's always tough to play against big hitters like her, she's a great player, very young and an upcoming player, I'm just so excited to stay longer in Charleston."

Sakkari is TK against Zheng all-time, and will be bidding for her first Top 10 win in more than a year -- and her first on clay since topping defending champion Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2021.

"It's going to be very tough, hopefully, for both of us," Sakkari said. "I'm feeling comfortable on the clay, she has been playing some great tennis ... but I'm going to come out and enjoy."

Kenin 'feels like she's at home' in Lowcountry: 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin followed Sakkari on court, and finished what she started to pick up her first win in Charleston since 2023.

Kenin needed an extra day to officially punch her ticket into the second round, as she was leading Pera 4-2 when the match was called off on Monday night due to rain. Upon resumption, she was pushed hard by her left-handed compatriot, saving a break point immediately in the seventh game and another before serving out the set. 

From 4-0 down, Pera pushed set two to 4-3 before Kenin eventually served out the match from 0-30.

Kenin will next face No. 17 seed Belinda Bencic, who was bumped up to a seeded position following the withdrawal of expected No. 13 seed Magdalena Frech after the draw was made.