Kournikova, who has earned millions of dollars in sponsorship and attracted an army of mostly male fans since she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals as a 16-year-old in 1997, has never gone all the way in a WTA tournament.

A routine 6-4 6-2 win over unheralded Spaniard Angeles Montolio at the adidas International tennis tournament here yesterday set up a second-round showdown against world No.6 Serena Williams today in front of a certain full house.

Kournikova rejected the idea she should play a few tier two or three events to increase her chances of scoring a maiden victory.

"Right now the most important thing is being healthy and getting into shape and just to feel well, to get to the level where I was before my injury," said Kournikova, who was sidelined for eight months last year with a stress fracture to her left foot.

"That's all I'm worried about right now and as for tier twos and threes - you know, it's not the most important thing, I just want to do well and keep improving.

"If I do well and if I continue improving I am sure the win will come, it is all connected."

Also in action here today will be Wimbledon finalist Justine Henin of Belgium, men's top seed Sebastien Grosjean of France, defending champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland and French Davis Cup hero Nicolas Escude.