KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Defending champion Kim Clijsters has won her opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open, routing qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1, 6-1.
Clijsters is seeded second and playing for the first time since retiring two weeks ago in the fourth round at Indian Wells with a right shoulder injury.
Yakimova committed 17 unforced errors Friday and had only one winner in the 50-minute match.
The last American in the women’s draw was eliminated in the second round when Varvara Lepchenko lost to Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-2. U.S. women went 4-7 in the tournament, with none winning more than one match and none reaching the final 32.
Serena and Venus Williams have eight Key Biscayne titles between them but they are not playing for health reasons.
