LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Serena Williams rallied from a set and two service breaks down to defeat French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the three million-dollar WTA Tour Championships.
Williams' fellow American Lindsay Davenport, trying to hang on to her world number one ranking this week with France's Amelie Mauresmo snapping at her heels, was also a winner on the opening night of the elite season finale, crushing Russian Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-1, while US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat compatriot Vera Zvonareva in straight sets.
Williams, a six-time Grand Slam champion whose best performance in this year's major championships was her runner-up finish at Wimbledon, said that even trailing a set and 3-0 in the second she still thought she could pull off the victory.
"I thought I had a chance still, I hadn't shaken her hand yet," said Williams, who reeled off eight games in a row to put herself back in the Red Group match.
That included a service break in the opening game of the third, which she gave back in the fourth game before earning what proved to be the decisive break in the seventh.
Still she kept her vocal fans at Staples Center on edge, failing to convert three match points in the 10th game before finally closing out the contest with consecutive aces.
"I think at the end when she was down, she started hitting it harder, running more balls down," Williams said of Myskina. "I think I definitely raised my game tonight both mentally and physically. I had to - she's the French Open champion."
Williams, who sat out last week nursing a strained knee, said the injury didn't bother her on court.
"I haven't even thought about it," she said. "My knee hasn't bothered me at all."
It's a relief, Williams said, after being hampered even in training.
"It has been a hindrance because in my practice, I would just hit in one spot because I couldn't run," she said. "I think it made me slow down a little bit. And now I am picking up my speed."
Myskina was philosophical about her failure to close out the match.
"It's not a tragedy," she said, pointing to the round-robin format in which each player plays three matches and the top two from each of the two groups advance to the semi-finals. "There's two more matches to go."
But Myskina admitted she should have made more of her opportunities.
"I should keep going, put more pressure," she said. "When I was 6-4, 3-0, I kind of stepped back. I was waiting for her mistakes."
Davenport never appeared in danger, but that didn't mean Dementieva went down without a fight.
With Davenport serving and up 4-1, the sixth game went to deuce 18 times, lasting nearly half an hour before Davenport won it.
"It was one of those games that got more dramatic as it went on," Davenport said. "It was just a crazy game."
She said she wasn't surprised by Dementieva's tenacity in the situation.
"Whenever a good player is losing badly, they're going to try to fight, to make the score respectable," Davenport said.
Kuznetsova, whose US Open triumph made her one of three Russian women to claim Grand Slam titles this year along with Myskina and Wimbledon titlist Maria Sharapova, had her own second-set lapse but still emerged with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over erratic compatriot Vera Zvonareva.
Kuznetsova led 5-1 in the second before Zvonareva narrowed the gap to 5-4.
Serving to save the match, Zvonareva savd three match points before sending a backhand into the net.
Throughout the second-set roller-coaster, Zvonareva berated herself, an emotional display that Kuznetsova said she tried to tune out.
"She has always been like this," said Kuznetsova, who has played Zvonareva since they were both juniors. "Once I lost to her because she started crying."
Kuznetsova said she thought Zvonareva, who made a speedy exit from the arena, may have been left flat from playing five weeks in a row.
Zvonareva didn't secure a berth in the Championships until last week, when she finished runner-up to Mauresmo in Philadelphia.
Mauresmo, who became the first French player to hold the world number one ranking earlier this year before Davenport reclaimed the top spot, will open her campaign on Thursday with a Black Group match against Zvonareva.
Wimbledon champ Sharapova also plays her first match, taking on Kuznetsova, while Williams will face Dementieva.
Round Robin action continues through Saturday, with semi-finals on Sunday and the final on Monday.

11/11/2004 - 16:13 GMT - AFP