Kuznetsova given a tough ride

Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova needed three sets to see off Zheng Jie in the first round of the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

The French Open champion appeared to be cruising at a set and a break up but Zheng rallied, taking the second set on a tie-break and then moving ahead in the third.

However, Russian Kuznetsova dug deep and fought back to triumph 6-1 6-7 (5/7) 6-4.

Another big name in trouble was Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was also a break down in the decider before coming through 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7/5) against qualifier Roberta Vinci.

Eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo was a lot more comfortable in a 6-4 6-1 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

Days after reaching the semi-finals in Toronto, Russia's Alisa Kleybanova was sent packing in round one in New Haven, beaten 3-6 6-1 6-4 by Belgian qualifier Yanina Wickmayer.

Magdalena Rybarikova was another qualifier to triumph with a 6-4 6-4 win over Francesca Schiavone while Russian duo Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina both racked up straight sets wins.

In other matches, France's Virginie Razzano and Czech Iveta Benesova prevailed to reach round two, with Razzano beating former top-10 player Patty Schnyder.

In the men's draw, Marcos Baghdatis' miserable season continued as he slumped to a 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Portugal's Frederico Gil.

The former Australian Open finalist has dropped outside the world's top 100 and looks set to miss the US Open.

Home star Sam Querrey became the first man into the third round, the sixth seed letting slip a break advantage in the second set against Marc Gicquel before coming through 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.

Three Americans reached the second round, with Robert Kendrick beating Frederik Nielsen 6-3 7-5 to set up a meeting with top seed Nikolay Davydenko while Kevin Kim battled past Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4 5-7 6-3 and Rajeev Ram saw off qualifier Nicolas Lapentti 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7/3).

Jose Acasuso won a battle of the Argentinians against Maximo Gonzalez 6-1 6-7 (7/9) 6-2 while Italy's Simone Bolelli downed Christophe Rochus 6-3 6-4.

Potito Starace, another Italian, advanced thanks to a 6-3 2-6 6-3 win over Mischa Zverev, with Pablo Cuevas, Bjorn Phau and Yen-hsun Lu also winning.