seeded Caroline Wozniacki fought back for a win in her first tournament in a month while former champion Justine Henin was eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open Friday. Denmark's Wozniacki was 4-1 down in the third set before overcoming American Vania King 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to progress to the third round. Henin, playing her third tournament since ending a 19-month retirement and first since reaching the Australian Open final, lost to Gisela Dulko of Argentina, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Elena Dementieva, seeded fourth, was also extended to three sets before the Russian downed Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, while fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland progressed when Russian opponent Anna Chakvetadze retired when trailing 6-2, 5-3. Maria Sharapova, seeded tenth, was another title contender forced to fight hard in the second round, overcoming Russian compatriot Vera Dushevina 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. In the men's draw, first-round play involving unseeded players continued, with Argentina's David Nalbandian and American James Blake among the winners while France's Richard Gasquet was beaten by Germany's Simon Greul. Henin, who retired in May, 2008, while No. 1 in the world, had reached the finals at Brisbane, Australia, and in the Australian Open in her previous tournaments since her comeback. But against Dulko, the 31st seed, the Belgian struggled on serve, saving just 2 of 8 break points. “It was a tough day today, I agree,” said Henin, who will be somewhere between No. 30 and 35 when she returns to the rankings March 22. “I was never into a good rhythm and never really found my way to win. Even in the second set it was better, but still a lot of ups and downs. Henin came from a 4-1 deficit to pull to 5-4 in the final set, but made three unforced errors to give Dulko match point and she closed it out with a running crosscourt forehand after retrieving Henin's drop shot. It was the first day any of the 32 women's seeds were in action and several didn't last. No. 7 Li Na of China lost to Elena Baltacha of Great Britain, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-6 (7); No. 20 Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine bowed to Peng Shuai of China, 6-1, 6-4; No. 22 Sabine Lisicki of Germany retired with left ankle sprain while trailing American Jill Craybas, 4-6, 7-5, 2-0; No. 29 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain lost to Alicia Molik of Australia, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3); and No. 30 Aleksandra Wozniack of Canada was beaten, 6-1, 6-2, by Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. Among the winning seeds were No. 11 Marion Bartoli, No. 12 Maria Kirilenko, No. 15 Francesca Schiavone, No. 16 Nadia Petrova, No. 18 Jie Zheng and No. 19 Aravane Rezai. Hit for Haiti makes $1m Former tennis greats Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova stole the limelight with their wit while playing in exhibition matches Friday to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Navratilova and Justine Henin beat Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport 8-6 in a light-hearted women's double encounter before Pete Sampras and Roger Federer overcame Agassi and Rafael Nadal by the same margin. After the two matches finished in front of a capacity crowd of 16,100 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, venue owner Larry Ellison presented a check for $1 million to the American Red Cross Haiti relief and development fund. Each of the eight players competing in the “Hit for Haiti” charity matches wore a microphone so the stadium crowd and television viewers could hear the banter as play unfolded.
