Capriati begins title defence

Capriati and Serena Williams both went through

Click here for Wednesday's results from Charleston

Jennifer Capriati opened the defence of her Family Circle Cup title on Wednesday by beating Slovakia's Janette Husarova 2-6 6-2 6-4.

Playing on clay for the first time since winning last year's French Open, the world number one looked uncomfortable at times and committed 43 unforced errors.

Third-seed Serena Williams also went through but otherwise it was not a day for the star players.

Fourth-seed Jelena Dokic, sixth-seed Amelie Mauresmo, eighth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy, 10th-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and 11th seed Daniela Hantuchova. all lost while 12th-seeded Elena Dementieva retired through injury.

It's just part of the game and nothing that's going to keep me out but something to deal with

Jennifer Capriati

Husarova, ranked 43rd in the world, easily took the first set from Capriati and was level at 2-2 in the second before the top seed won six games in a row to tie the match.

Capriati took a 2-0 lead in the third set but Husarova later tied it at 4-4. The American held serve for 5-4 and then broke for the match.

"I think I played pretty well for my first match and, even though it was three sets, I still feel like I was hitting the ball well," said Capriati.

The world number one had an ice pack around her lower left leg after the match having had nagging tendonitis in her Achilles.

"It's just part of the game and nothing that's going to keep me out but something to deal with," she said.

Serena Williams, after her 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Nathalie Dechy of France, said: "I don't think I played very well at all. I wasn't moving and didn't serve well until the last two games."

Wildcard entrant Mary Pierce, ranked 232nd in the world after a string of injuries, upset Hantuchova 6-3 6-4 in the night match at Charleston.

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Wednesday's second round results from the Family Circle Cup (seeds are in bold):

A Fusai (Fran) bt M Tu (US) 6-1 6-1
13 A Coetzer (SA) bt A Serra Zanetti (Ita) 7-5 4-6 6-2
7 S Testud (Fra) bt A Sugiyama (Jpn) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2)
A Smashnova (Isr) bt 4 J Dokic (Yug) 6-1 6-3
1 J Capriati (USA) bt J Husarova (Svk) 2-6 6-2 6-4
P Schnyder (Swi) bt 6 A Mauresmo (Fra) 6-4 3-6 6-2
J Craybas (USA) bt 12 E Dementiava (Rus) 6-4 3-2 ret
S Foretz (Fra) bt C Martinez (Spa) 6-1 6-2
P Suarez (Arg) bt 8 M Shaughnessy (USA) 6-1 6-1
A Mysinka (Rus) bt 10 A Sanchez-Vicario (Spa) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7)
M Pierce (US) bt 11 D Hantuchova (Slo) 6-3 6-4

Third round

3 S Williams (US) bt N Dechy (Fra) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

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