Dubai Open

Henin took two hours to beat Barna

Top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne was stretched to the limit by German qualifier Anca Barna before reaching the quarter-finals with a 1-6 6-2 6-4 win.

Henin-Hardenne struggled to find her rhythm early on as Barna broke twice in succession on her way to winning the first set 6-1.

But the world number four adopted a more aggressive approach in the second and broke twice in succession to lead 3-1 and then 5-1.

Barna broke back immediately but then surrendered her own serve for a third time to lose the set 6-2.

In the decider, the underdog held the early advantage when she broke to lead 3-2.

But Henin-Hardenne broke back immediately with a fine backhand volley, and eventually closed out the match in just under two hours by winning the last eight points.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo also had a real struggle, and faced elimination when Petra Mandula served for victory against her at 5-4 in the third.

But Mauresmo hit back to win 6-2 2-6 7-6.

A rejuvenated Jennifer Capriati had an easier time of it in her opening contest, brushing aside Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to win her first match of the year.

Playing for the first time since crashing out of the Australian Open, Capriati took just 61 minutes to win 6-2 6-1.

"Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I lost early in Australia," the third seed said.

"I went on vacation after that for a week, just to have time to relax and to get my mind clear.

"Then I came back and had a lot of motivation to work out and try to get back into shape."

In other matches, eighth seed Eleni Daniilidou was beaten 6-4 6-7 6-2 by Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez.

And Swiss sixth seed Patty Schnyder was forced to retire with a back strain after dropping the first set 6-1 to Russia's Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

St Jude Classic

Fourth seed Alexandra Stevenson and fifth seed Vera Zvonereva were shocked by little-known Asian opponents in Memphis

Japan's Saori Obata beat Stevenson 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 while South Korea's Cho Yoon Jeong beat Zvonereva 6-2 6-4.