Americans advance at Ericsson Open

MIAMI, March 26 (UPI) -- Americans Ashley Harkleroad and Vania King recorded first-round victories Wednesday at the Sony Ericksson Open, a 12-day, 96-player tournament.

Harkleroad was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Emmanuelle Gagliardi and King rallied to defeat Meghann Shaughnessy 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Another American, Jill Craybas, was eliminated by Marta Domachowska 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (8-6). Domachowska will meet sixth-seeded Venus Williams in the second round.

All the seeds have first-round byes in this tournament.

Other first-round winners included Angelique Kerber, Nathalie Dechy, Sara Errani, Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Rodionova, Edina Gallovits, Yung-Jan Chan, Tatiana Perebiynis and Caroline Wozniacki.

Serena Williams defeated Justine Henin in the finals of this tournament last year. Henin is the No. 1 seed this year. Ana Ivanovic, winner at Indian Wells last week, is seeded second.