Three-times champion Venus Williams recovered from losing the first four games to beat Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak 7-5 6-2 in the Sony Ericsson Open first round on Thursday. On the men's side, qualifier Guillermo Canas, who last week ended world number one Roger Federer's 41-match winning streak, beat experienced Briton Tim Henman 3-6 6-2 6-1.
Williams, playing for the first time since winning in Memphis last month, produced 31 unforced errors in the first set before overwhelming her 88th-ranked opponent. "At four-love I was thinking hold, break, hold, it's even," Williams told reporters. I felt really confident. The American improved to 34-5 at the tournament which she won in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
Top seed Maria Sharapova will begin her campaign against 93rd-ranked Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan who beat Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2 6-3. In other first-round matches, Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek, beaten last week by Sharapova, advanced to face Czech eighth seed Nicole Vaidisova with a win over Georgian Anna Tatishvili 6-3 7-6.