NEW HAVEN,(Connecticut), Aug 24: Top seed Lindsay Davenport and number four Elena Dementieva began their preparations for next week’s U.S. Open with confident second round wins at the New Haven Open on Tuesday.

Davenport, who will be seeded second in New York, eased past Czech Kveta Peschke 6-4 6-1 while Dementieva dismissed fellow Russian Vera Douchevina 6-2 6-4.

New world number one Maria Sharapova is the top seed for the U.S. Open which starts in New York on Monday.

In the men’s event, American James Blake gave the home crowd something to cheer about with a crushing 6-1 6-4 victory over French doubles specialist Michael Llodra in a first round match.

Fourth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain held off a strong challenge from 18-year-old American Scoville Jenkins to win their second round encounter 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Back on court in her first event since she injured her back in July, Davenport began slowly against the world number 38 before slipping into gear after taking the first set.

The 29-year-old American next faces Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, who maintained her good form this summer with a 6-4 6-2 win over Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain.

Dementieva, runner-up at the French and U.S. Opens last year, won eight straight games and then recovered from a lapse in concentration to seal an easy victory over Douchevina.

Dementieva will now play Anabel Medina Garrigues after the Spaniard upset Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-7 6-4.

The men’s competition came alive under lights as world number 67 Blake delighted a raucous home crowd by continuing his run of good form with a convincing win over Llodra.

The American, who grew up in Connecticut, reached the final in Washington earlier this summer and looked full of confidence.

After ripping through the first set he broke Llodra in the 10th game of the second set to set up a second round meeting with 10th seeded Italian Filippo Volandri.

After a traumatic 2004, in which he fractured vertebrae in his neck, suffered a rare illness and lost his father, Blake has been climbing back up the rankings and knows that a good run at the US Open could lift him back inside the top 40.

Meanwhile, 15th seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand squeezed past Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 7-6 7-6 to join Robredo and another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, in the third round.

Results

Women’s singles(second round):

Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Vera Douchevina (Russia) 6-2 6-4; Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-0 6-7(10) 6-4; Lindsay Davenport (United States) bt Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-1.

First round:

Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) bt Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) 6-4 6-1; Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) 6-4 6-2.

Men’s singles(second round):

Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) bt Cyril Saulnier (France) 7-6(3) 7-6(5); Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Scoville Jenkins (United States) 6-2 3-6 6-4; Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Ivo Minar (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt 14-Robin Soederling (Sweden) 7-6(3) 7-6(4); Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 6-4 6-3.

First round:

Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Mardy Fish (United States) 6-4 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-2 6-4; Andy Ram (Israel) bt Ricardo Mello (Brazil) 6-1 6-4; Christophe Rochus (Belgium) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 7-5 6-1; Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 6-3 6-0; James Blake (United States) beat Michael Llodra (France) 6-1 6-4.—Agencies