Halard-Decugis and Sugiyama advance to quarters

US Open doubles winners Julie Halard-Decugis of France and Japan's Ai Sugiyama beat Americans Lilia Osterloh and Alexandra Stevenson 7-5, 7-6 (0) today, advancing to the quarterfinals in the $535,000 Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo.

US Open doubles winners Julie Halard-Decugis of France and Japan's Ai Sugiyama beat Americans Lilia Osterloh and Alexandra Stevenson 7-5, 7-6 (0) today, advancing to the quarterfinals in the $535,000 Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo.

Sugiyama, back from the Sydney Olympics after making an early exit there in both the singles and doubles events, struggled to find her range. She and Halard-Decugis couldn't inflict much damage on serve.

But the top-seeded pair finally got back into rhythm and took control in the second set's tiebreaker, winning it 7-0.

"We had trouble getting back into rhythm because our opponents were serving and returning well," Sugiyama said. "But we were able to keep the ball and win points when we needed them."

In another opening-day match at Ariake Colosseum, fourth-seeded Jelena Dokic of Australia and American Corina Morariu ousted Shinobu Asagoe and Yuka Yoshida of Japan 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.

In the day's singles competition, 16-year-old wild card Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia eliminated Italy's Rita Grande 6-3, 6-4.

Fifth seed Amy Frazier of the United States breezed past Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2, 6-1, advancing to the second round.

Americans Monica Seles, top-seeded, and Serena Williams, second seed, were idle, along with five other singles seeds. They include third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France and Halard-Decugis, seeded fourth.

Results from the $535,000 Toyota Princess Cup tennis tournament at Ariake Colosseum (seedings in parenthesis):

Singles First Round

Nicole Pratt, Australia, def. Tathiana Garbin, Italy, 6-4, 6-3 Amy Frazier (5), United States, def. Fabiola Zuluaga, Colombia, 6-2, 6-1 Angeles Montolio, Spain, def. Lilia Osterloh, United States, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (9) Lina Krasnoroutskaya, Russia, def. Rita Grande, Italy, 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles First Round

Julie Halard-Decugis, France, and Ai Sugiyama, Japan (1), def. Lilia Osterloh and Alexandra Stevenson, United States, 7-5, 7-6 (0) Jelena Dokic, Australia, and Corina Morariu, United States (4), def. Shinobu Asagoe and Yuka Yoshida, Japan, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.