Defending champion Victoria Azarenka won her opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open, beating Alexandra Dulgheru 6-3, 6-2. Azarenka, seeded fourth, advanced Friday on the same court where she earned the biggest victory of her career a year ago, beating Serena Williams in the final. Azarenka finished shortly before rain began to fall, causing a 2½-hour delay. There was another delay later in the afternoon. In men's play, No. 24 Ivo Karlovic hit 28 aces, held every service game and beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3. Karlovic had been 0-6 previously at Key Biscayne. No. 15 David Ferrer also won. Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick were among those with matches scheduled later Friday. Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova overcame an error-ridden performance to beat China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday to advance to the third round. The 24-year-old Russian, who won a title in Miami in 2006, has not advanced out of the round of 16 in any tournament she has played this season. She made 43 unforced errors before beating Peng in one hour, 51 minutes. “I'm not thrilled because I was getting mad with myself and I was fighting with myself,” said Kuznetsova, who finished with seven aces and won 38 of 54 first serve points. “I felt the ball very well and I felt my game, but I was up and down.” The two-time grand slams winner and world number four had some trouble getting by Peng, who only recently returned to action after having appendicitis in February. After Kuznetsova took a 3-1 lead in the third set, Peng tied it 3-3, then 4-4, before Kuznetsova pulled away by breaking serve in the final game. Third seed Venus Williams, wearing a new red tennis dress, joined Kuznetsova in the third round after a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Romania's Sorana Cirstea in the night match. Canas calls it a day Guillermo Canas of Argentina, once a nemesis to Roger Federer, has announced his retirement from tennis. The 32-year-old Canas said Friday he decided to retire rather than undergo a fifth operation on his right wrist. He has been battling pain in the wrist for more than a year and hasn't played in a tournament since July. Canas made the announcement at the Sony Ericsson Open, where he's remembered for upsetting the top-ranked Federer in 2007. Canas also won when they met at Indian Wells earlier that same month, ending Federer's 41
