Great Britain's Francesca Jones laid down a marker as she earned her first WTA Tour victory of the 2024 season in the first round of the Copa Colsanitas.
The 23-year-old - who has been bedevilled by injuries in her fledgling career - was a convincing 6-1 6-2 winner over Colombian wild card Yuliana Monroy over two days.
Jones memorably achieved her best result of 2023 at the Bogata tournament, reaching the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Tatjana Maria, which proved to be her last top-level appearance before the current edition.
The world number 214 made it to the second round of Australian Open qualifying before tearfully retiring injured, before also having to cede her shot at glory in the Hammamet 2 ITF W35 in Tunisia just three games into the final.
However, Jones made a statement of intent during her run to the final of last month's San Luis Open at WTA 125 level, finishing as runner-up to Nadia Podoroska, and her WTA 250 comeback was a successful affair.
The Briton won the first four games of the match and was leading by a break in the second set when play was suspended on Tuesday, but she emphatically finished the job on Wednesday to set up a second-round meeting with German seventh seed Laura Siegemund.
Jones was not the only GB player celebrating an opening success on Wednesday, as Jan Choinski advanced to the second round of the Estoril Open, where he will reunite with Hubert Hurkacz after last year's Wimbledon showdown.
Ben Knapton
