Veteran Martinez wins first-round match

Conchita Martinez survived a bundle of errors to win the opening match of the $2 million Chase Championships on Monday, defeating Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Conchita Martinez survived a bundle of errors to win the opening match of the $2 million Chase Championships on Monday, defeating Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Martinez looked like anything but a winner in the early stages of her match, hanging on the baseline and showering her topspin forehands high, hard and either wide or long. Twenty-seven minutes after play began on the blue carpet, Likhovtseva had captured the opening set, as much from her opponent's errors as her own winning shots.

The second set began with Martinez winning the first two games, a peek at what was to come. But again Likhovtseva took advantage of the Spaniard's flurry of unforced errors to win four straight games and take a 4-2, 0-30 lead.

"I thought I was going to lose that match," Martinez said.

She had help, however, as Likhovtseva began pounding the ball into the net or hitting long. Martinez won the next four games, rallying from an 0-40 deficit in the 10th game to level the match at one set apiece.

"I was in control at 4-2," Likhovtseva said. "I just stopped playing my game."

The third set was a copy of the second. After trading service breaks to begin the set, the two stayed on serve until the eighth game when Martinez rifled two forehands down the line for winners, then watched Likhovtseva make a couple of unforced errors as she broke her opponent. Martinez completed her victory by holding serve at 15, grabbing a spot in the quarterfinals of the 16-player event when the Russian buried a backhand service return into the middle of the net.

"It feels good to come back fighting," Martinez said. "I can stick around for at least one more match."

Likhovtseva lost in the first round of the Championships for the second straight year. She can console herself, however, with a check for $30,000, the amount all first-round losers collect.

The first day of the final Championships to be played at Madison Square Garden ended with fifth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain taking on young Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

This week's champion will pocket $500,000, with the other finalist earning $250,000.

The season-ending tournament, which has been a Madison Square Garden mainstay since 1979, will move to Munich, Germany, next year.