Ivanisevic advances past Prinosil

Capriati, ranked 14th in the world but unseeded here, won the last 10 games and took 50 minutes to advance to the second round of the $ 535,000 event on Monday.

The 39-ranked Stevnson had a 3-2 lead in the first set.

Then Capriati started her run by holding service and breaking the 19-year-old Stevenson, one of two Scottsdale entrants who were surprise semi-finalists at Wimbledon last year, for a 4-3 lead.

Two games later, the set was Capriati’s as she blew Stevenson away with powerful serves and accurate groundstrokes.

In the fifth game of the second set, Capriati faulted on five straight serves, but recovered after the fifth to win the point. She also faulted on her next serve, but won that point with a drop shot, then got a serve in and won the game when Stevenson returned long. Capriati won all four points in the last game, improving her match record to 7-2.

Amy Frazier, another player returning to top form, beat Anke Huber 7-6 (7-1), 6-2.

Frazier, ranked 19th, reached the top 25 last season for the first time in three and a half years. She improved to 6-3 with the win, dropping No 17 Huber to 1-5.

The afternoon session was good for most American players, with Chanda Rubin defeating Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-3 and Meghan Shaughnessy beating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 in a duel of wild-card entries.

But Ai Sugiyama of Japan interrupted the string of US wins with ease against Lisa Raymond, ousting her 6-2, 6-3.

In the first doubles match of the event, second-seeded Lindsay Davenport and Anna Kournikova teamed up for the first time and overpowered Kimberly Po and Barbara Schett 6-1, 6-2.