In her first match in a month, Venus Williams dropped the first four games before rallying to beat Yuliana Fedak 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.
Rain curtailed the schedule and gusty wind made for some sloppy rallies. Unforced errors plagued Williams early, and she fell behind 4-0 in 15 minutes before charging back.
"Definitely a really interesting day," Williams said. "Even though I got down, I didn't feel I was going to lose. I just needed to find my timing."
PHOTO: AP
She had 28 winners to two for Ukraine's Fedak.
Slowed by injuries, Williams is unseeded and playing in only her third tournament since July. She won in Memphis last month for her 34th career title, and first since Wimbledon in 2005.
"To me it's just a blessing to be playing," the former three-time champion said.
In men's play, 19-year-old American Sam Querrey beat Russia's Igor Andreev 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 and will face two-time defending champion Roger Federer today.
`nothing to lose'
"I have nothing to lose," the 1.98m Querrey said. "I can just go out there and hit every ball as hard as I can, and hope they all go in as winners."
Guillermo Canas, who ended Roger Federer's 41-match winning streak on March 11 at Indian Wells, beat Tim Henman 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Former finalist Sebastien Grosjean won for the first time since the Australian Open when he defeated Martin Verkerk 6-3, 6-4.
Grosjean's struggle and decline in the rankings was evident when he wasn't seeded at Key Biscayne for the first time since 1999, when he reached the final and lost to Richard Krajicek.
His third win of the year set him up against Richard Gasquet, who replaced Grosjean as France's No. 1 player in 2005. Grosjean won their only previous encounter at the 2005 Montreal Masters.
Vince Spadea won his opening match in Key Biscayne for the 12th time in 13 visits by beating fellow American Robby Ginepri 6-1, 6-3.
`Key' player
Spadea has beaten three top-10 players in Key Biscayne while achieving one semi-final and another quarter-final, and he'll next face world No. 11 David Nalbandian, whom he has not beaten.
Also winners were Evgeny Korolev of Russia, Potito Starace of Italy, and Florian Mayer of Germany.
In other women's matches, Acapulco champion Emilie Loit came from behind to beat Pattaya City winner Sybille Bammer 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, 17-year-old Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) of Taiwan downed Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2, 6-3 to earn a second-round match against top-seeded Maria Sharapova and Michaella Krajicek put away wild card Anna Tatishvili 6-3, 7-6 (2).
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