On an entertaining day at the regional tennis centre, South African No. 2 seed Chanel Simmonds and Russian eighth seed Arina Rodionova were  tested by health issues and energy-sapping three setters  but eventually progressed along with Australian No. 5 seed Sacha Jones and seventh-seeded Lithuanian Stephanie Vogt.

Simmonds braved a bad cold to win a battle of left-handers 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4 against China's Sheng-Nan Sun.

``I'm a bit sick at the moment so that was hard,'' said the 20-year-old from Johannesburg.

``In the first set I was down and just could not get my rhythm, but my confidence grew when she started to make mistakes.

 ``In the second set I completely lost concentration, and the third was tough. I guess I just won the important points.

``Thank goodness for the day off -  I'm really looking forward to it.''

Simmonds, who lost to Russian Ksenia Lykina in Launceston last year, will next play China's Ran Tian, who also won a three-setter yesterday, but wasn't getting carried away with her win.

``Everyone here is good - there's no easy matches. Even though I'm seeded two, I'm still taking things one match at a time.''

Russian-born Melburnian Rodionova, 23, overcame both a back injury and Australian Lizette Cabrera 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

``I guess I'm happy but I'm not happy with my body,'' said the 2010 Burnie International winner who lost to top seed Olivia Rogowska in the second round here last year. ``My back hurts.

``I have not touched a racquet for three days so that was not my best tennis.

``I'm just thinking about my next match and I need to figure out whether I will be able to play the same way.''

Jones and Vogt produced the most impressive wins, both dropping just four games.

``It's nice to get a first-round win against a tricky opponent in enjoyable conditions,'' said Jones, who confirmed a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Japan's Erika Takao by taking the last five games.

``I had not played her before so I did not know what to expect. I have not used up too much energy and it will be nice to have a day off.''

The 22-year-old New Zealand-born Melburnian agreed with Simmonds that there will be no gimmes in the tournament.

``Olivia is playing well and obviously won last week (in Burnie), but there are a lot of tough players here so I'll take it one match at a time.

``It's my first time here and it's really nice. Launceston's very green, pretty, friendly, and the weather is nice.''

Results:  SANDERS, Storm (AUS) d SAVIC, Ana (CRO) 7-5, 63; RODIONOVA, A (RUS) [8] d CABRERA, Lizette (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; ZHANG, Yuxuan (CHN) d INOUE, Miyabi (JPN) 6-2, 6-0; VOGT, Stephanie (LIE) [7] d MIYAZAKI, Yumi (JPN) 6-2, 6-2; JONES, Sacha (AUS) [5] d TAKAO, Erika (JPN) 6-3, 6-1; TIAN, Ran (CHN) d OZAKI, Risa (JPN) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; SIMMONDS, C (RSA) [2] d SUN, Sheng-Nan (CHN) 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4.