NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Eighth-seeded Ai Sugiyama fought through three sets Monday and beat Lisa Raymond 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the hard-court Pilot Pen tournament.

With the score tied 5-5 in the third set, Japan's top player efficiently got ahead of Raymond 40-love, then ended it with a 91-mph ace.

Sugiyama led the last set 40-love, then broke Raymond at 30-40 when Raymond hit a forehand wide of the sideline.

Sugiyama committed several errors and two double faults in the first set, then took an early lead in the second set with stronger serves.

In other first-round action at the U.S. Open tuneup, seventh-seeded Conchita Martinez defeated Saori Obata 6-2, 6-2.

"It was very nice -- nice not to have complications up there. I think I played pretty serious today,'' Martinez said.

Obata struggled with volleys that landed in the net and missed about half of her first serves to fall behind.

Martinez also missed about half of her first serves, although she landed two aces against Obata and occasionally cranked her serve up to more than 90 mph.

"My serve, I have to work on. I feel I have been working on it for years now,'' Martinez said. "It hasn't been working out great, but I still have hope one day it will be up there.''

Unseeded Jelena Dokic beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round.

Dokic said she played "surprisingly well.''

Her WTA Tour ranking has dropped from No. 8 to No. 23 this season, and she said Monday that she's been physically and mentally tired. But she also said she's feeling better now.

Dokic's next opponent is top-seeded Lindsay Davenport.

"I have no pressure,'' Dokic said. "I'm not supposed to win tomorrow. I think that favors me a little bit.''

In another night match, Ukranian Tatiana Perebiynis took the place of Alexandra Stevenson, who withdrew with a right shoulder strain shortly before the match, and beat wild-card entry Ashley Harkleroad, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

Harkleroad, from the United States, rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the second set to force a tiebreaker, but was unable to withstand two aces by Perebiynis, at 108 mph and 99 mph.

Elsewhere, Magui Serna outlasted qualifier Tina Pisnik 0-6, 6-4, 6-2, Vera Zvonareva defeated wild-card entry Sarah Taylor 6-2, 6-0, Elena Bovina beat qualifier Alicia Molik 6-3, 7-6 (4), Cara Black eliminated Rita Grande 6-2, 6-1, and Myriam Casanova beat Laura Granville 6-1, 6-1.