Former world number one Venus Williams made a winning comeback after four months out through injury as she beat Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Memphis International on Monday.

In only her second match since July because of knee and wrist problems, the seventh seed was understandably rusty but overcame eight double faults to battle to victory.

"I'm really excited to win my first match back and excited to be back full stop," Williams said.

"It was tough because so many things were going through my head, wanting to do well. Towards the end of the match I started getting a bit more clarity but she lifted her level too, so it was tough."

Williams, who has slipped to 54 in the rankings, won the first set in 25 minutes but as her serve malfunctioned, she was broken three times as Morigami levelled the match.

But two poor errors from the world number 65 handed the American the break in the seventh game of the decider and Williams held on to advance to a meeting with 16-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki.

"I am pleased I was able to lift my level when I needed to and close out the match," she said. "I think I am only going to get better with each match."

American sixth seed Shenay Perry was pushed hard before squeezing past Youlia Fedossova 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, while eighth seed Jill Craybas was another first-round winner.

In the men's event, fifth seed Xavier Malisse had to retire in the second set of his match with Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili after injuring his right wrist.

"I hit a backhand and kind of snapped my wrist a little bit," Malisse said. "I think I just kind of snapped something. I've got to see what it is. I hope it's not too bad but today it's not possible to play on because I couldn't hold my racket."

Sixth seed Jurgen Melzer needed a third-set tiebreak to get past American qualifier Jesse Witten, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 while another Austrian, Stefan Koubek, also advanced.