Harkleroad surprises in Pilot Pen tourney

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. wild-card entry Ashley Harkleroad dropped one game in winning a first-round match Monday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen tennis tournament in Connecticut.

Harkleroad was a 6-1, 6-0 victor over Tatiana Poutchek to highlight first-round play of the final hardcourt tournament before the U.S. Open.

Also advancing Monday were seventh-seeded Sybille Bammer, who swept by Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-4, 6-2; and No. 8 Alona Bondarenko, who dropped Olga Govortsova, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

First-round wins were posted Monday by Emilie Loit, Virginia Ruano Pascual and Agnes Szavay. Ruano Pascual.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is the top seed for the Pilot Pen tournament. The event winner will claim $88,265.

World No. 1 Justine Henin won the Pilot Pen tournament last year but is not in the 2007 New Haven field.