Peru's world number one powered past Germany's Raphael Kandra in 33 minutes with an 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 straight-sets performance at Union Station.

"At the start I was a bit nervous, but that's normal, it's the first match of the tournament," Elias said.

"I've been very excited for this tournament.

"I'm feeling good and it's my first tournament as world number one.

"Hopefully I can go all the way and try and win it.

"There is less pressure compared to when I was trying to get to world number one.

"Now that I'm there I'm a bit more relaxed and I'm just going to try and win titles."

Baptiste Masotti, Elias' opponent tomorrow, defeated American Andrew Douglas to secure his place in the second round, while his French compatriot Auguste Dussourd beat Portugal's Rui Soares.

In the women's singles, home favourite Olivia Fiechter comfortably progressed after beating Nada Abbas of Egypt.

The world number seven took the first game 11-7 before cruising to respective 11-3 and 11-4 scorelines in the second and third.

"I'm very relieved to get through that in three and I’m pretty happy with my performance," said Fiechter, who also praised the positive impact of playing in her country.

"The last time we played it was a really tight four games and she was one of the toughest opponents I could have drawn in the first round.

"Some people would say it was a tough draw, but I looked at it as a great opportunity to come out strong."

The biggest upset of the day's play came from unseeded Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt who dispatched 12th seed compatriot Youssef Soliman 3-0 after 46 minutes.

Competition is set to continue tomorrow with the beginning of second round fixtures in both the men's and women's singles tournaments.