=== Henin-Hardenne, Davenport, Sharapova advance at U.S. Open ===

Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - Top-seeded and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne and red-hot American Lindsay Davenport were first-round winners Tuesday at the U.S. Open. French Open titlist Anastasia Myskina, two- time champion Venus Williams and Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova also reached the second round at the year's final Grand Slam event.

The world No. 1, Henin-Hardenne got past 15-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-4 to record her eighth straight win at the USTA National Tennis Center.

Vaidisova blew a 4-1 lead in the second set, as Henin-Hardenne roared back to close out the match by winning five straight games at Ashe Stadium. The 22- year-old Belgian star advanced in 58 minutes, with the help of six service breaks.

Up next for Henin-Hardenne will be little-known Israeli Tzipora Obziler.

Henin-Hardenne, who downed Kim Clijsters in last year's all-Belgian final in Flushing, is fresh off her Olympic title in Athens, where she returned to action for the first time in nearly three months after being sidelined with a viral illness.

The diminutive Henin-Hardenne is currently the reigning U.S. Open, Australian Open and Olympic champion and won the French Open in 2003.

The 1998 U.S. Open champion and 2000 runner-up Davenport blitzed Slovakian Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-4, 6-0 in a brisk 50 minutes on Day 2.

Davenport, seeded fifth in Flushing, has won her last 18 matches on the tour, including four straight hardcourt titles, which enabled her to win the inaugural US Open Series. The 28-year-old star leads the WTA with six titles in 2004.

A fourth-seeded Myskina beat Ludmila Cervanova 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 42 minutes, as the Slovakian piled up 30 unforced errors in only 13 games.

Myskina's second-round opponent this week will be an unknown qualifier, fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

The 23-year-old Myskina beat good friend Elena Dementieva in June's historic all-Russian Roland Garros final.

The seventh-seeded Sharapova received a scare from Laura Granville before rallying for a three-set decision. After taking the first set 6-3, Sharapova dropped the second 7-5 and trailed 5-4 in the third before regrouping to win the final three points and win the match.

Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champ who is seeded 11th in this year's field, disposed of Petra Mandula 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Upsets came when Japan's Shinobu Asagoe erased 24th-seeded Israeli Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and Maria Kirilenko leveled 25th-seeded fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Likhovtseva was fresh off her title at Forest Hills, the former site of the U.S. Open.

Other seeded winners were No. 13 Paola Suarez, No. 14 Russian Nadia Petrova, No. 19 Silvia Farina Elia, No. 20 American Chanda Rubin, No. 21 American Amy Frazier, No. 26 Russian Elena Bovina, No. 27 Frenchwoman Mary Pierce and No. 29 Greek Eleni Daniilidou. Rubin rushed by Spaniard Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-2, 6-2, Frazier stopped fellow American Kelly Mc Cain 6-2, 6-2 and Pierce pasted fellow Frenchwoman Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-2.