Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati won her 2001 clay court debut while France's AmelieMauresmo won her 16th match in a row last night at a $1.2 million Women's Tennis Association event.
Second seed Capriati eliminated Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios 6-4 6-3 while seventh seed Mauresmo - seeking her fourth title of the year -ousted Marissa Irvin 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in second-round matches.
Mauresmo won in Paris and Nice in February and last week captured the crown in Amelia Island in Florida. She has not lost since falling to VenusWilliams in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Capriati, 19-4 this season, won in her first match since she squandered eight match points in losing to Williams in the finals of the Miami MastersSeries event on April 1st.
Two seeds were eliminated. Russia's Elena Dementieva beat No 5 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain 6-3, 6-4 and No 8 Chanda Rubin retired witha 6-4, 4-4 lead over Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie.
Also advancing were South Africa's fourth-seeded Amanda Coetzer, who beat Russia's Tatiana Panova 6-2, 6-2, and French sixth seed MaryPierce - the reigning French Open champion - who defeated American Jennifer Jopkins 6-2, 6-2.
Coetzer, who captured last month's Mexican Open, defeated Panova last week on her way to the final.
The defending champion Pierce played her first match since losing the Dubai Open quarter-finals in February. Pierce withdrew from an event lastweek with a back injury and tendinitis in the ankles. AFP