March 23, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1428

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MIAMI, March 22: Portuguese teen phenomenon Michelle Larcher de Brito booked a shot at Slovakian 16th seed Daniela Hantuchova with a first-round victory at the 6.9 million-dollar Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday.

The first Portuguese player in the main draw of an elite WTA tier one event, Larcher de Brito shrugged off rain delays to beat US veteran Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3).The youngster's reward is a match with Hantuchova, who ended a five-year victory drought last week by winning at Indian Wells.

Belgian Kim Clijsters, the fourth seed, will face Japan's Akiko Morigami, who eliminated Canadian wild card Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 7-5.

Russian Maria Sharapova is the top seed, the defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is seeded, third, while Serena Williams, playing for the first time since she trounced Sharapova in the Australian Open final, is seeded 13th.

Men's top seed Roger Federer is coming off an upset loss and should be on the defensive when he meets either Igor Andreev of Russia or American wild card Sam Querrey.

The second seed is Rafael Nadal of Spain, who capitalized on Federer's absence to storm to victory in the California desert. Nadal's first match will be against Brazil's Ricardo Mello, who defeated Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) on Wednesday.

Roddick is seeded third and will play Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina, who eased past Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, 6-4, 6-2.

Results (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

(Men) First round: Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Kristof Vliegen (BEL) 6-1, 6-1; Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG) bt Lee Hyung-taik (KOR) 6-4, 6-2; Daniele Bracciali (ITA) bt Max Mirnyi (BLS) 7-6 (2), 6-4; Paul Goldstein (US) bt Ryan Sweeting (US) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Luis Horna (PER) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) 5-2, retired; Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Robin Haase (NET) 6-4, 6-4; Simone Bolelli (ITA) bt Gael Monfils (FRA) 6-4, 6-2; Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) bt Jan Hajek (CZE), 7-5, 4-6, 7-5; Ricardo Mello (BRA) bt Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-1, 7-6 (3); Thomas Johansson (SWE) bt Alberto Martin (ESP) 6-4, 6-3; Michael Llodra (FRA) bt Stefan Koubek (AUT) 6-4, 6-0; Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Nicolas Massu (CHL) 6-3, 6-3; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5); Raemon Sluiter (NET) bt Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) 6-2, 6-2; Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) bt Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 7-5, 6-1; Florent Serra (FRA) bt Chris Guccione (AUS) 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4.

(Women)

First round: Akiko Morigami (JAP) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 6-1, 7-5; Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3); Vasilisa Bardina (RUS) bt Sanja Ancic (CRO) 6-3, 6-2; Meilen Tu (US) bt Romina Oprandi (ITA) 6-3, 6-2; Alina Jidkova (RUS) bt Petra Martic (CRO) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5); Jill Craybas (US) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0; Virginie Razzano (FRA) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 6-4, 6-2; Tamira Paszek (AUT) bt Alicia Molik (AUS) 6-3, 6-4; Anastasiya Yakimova (BLS) bt Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) bt Aravane Rezai (FRA) 6-1, 6-4; Nathalie Dechy (FRA) bt Camille Pin (FRA) 6-1, 6-3; Peng Shuai (CHN) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-0, 6-0; Olga Poutchkova (RUS) bt Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 0-6, 6-3, retired; Laura Granville (US) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) 6-4, 7-6 (0); Tatiana Poutchek (BLS) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB) 0-6, 6-3, retired; Vania King (US) bt Sun Tiantian (CHN) 7-6 (4), 7-5. –Agencies