Harkleroad wins opening-round match

INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 12 (UPI) -- Ashley Harkleroad, who won a Fed Cup match for the United States last month, advanced past the opening round Wednesday at the Pacific Life Open.

Harkleroad began this 12-day event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Tatiana Perebiynis. The American was part of a quarterfinal Fed Cup triumph over Germany in February.

Chinese players Jie Zheng, Zi Yan and Shuai Peng all won their first-round matches, as did American qualifier Angela Haynes.

Mariya Koryttseva surprised veteran Nathalie Dechy 6-1, 6-4.

Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova are the top two seeds in this tournament. World No. 1 Justine Henin is skipping the event. The top 32 seeds received first-round byes.