AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) -- Second-seeded Justine Henin avoided the rash of upsets that highlighted play Wednesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, posting a 6-4, 7-5 win over Clarissa Fernandez in a second-round match.
But three highly seeded players lost on a rain-shortened day, with No. 7 Meghann Shaughnessy, No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and No. 13 Alexandra Stevenson all losing their second-round matches.
Eleven of the 16 seeded players have lost in either the first or second round since play began.
Henin, ranked No. 9 and playing in her first Bausch & Lomb event, put on a backhand display of accuracy and power to turn back Fernandez. Her pinpoint placements and passing shots enabled her to break Fernandez once in both sets and send her into the round of 16.
``I've had that style (one-handed) backhand ever since I was 6 years old,'' Henin said. ``I've been asked if I would try two-handed. Never, never, never. I won't do anything to change that shot.''
Henin has one of the most potent back-handers among the WTA players. She recorded three of the match's final four points using it, including a blistering back-handed shot down the alley that left Fernandez waving at it.
``This was a good start to my clay court season, as it's the first match I've had on clay after just a few practices,'' the Belgium native said. ``That's why I played doubles the other day, just to get in some practice on it.''
While Henin was moving into the round of 16, Shaughnessy, Sanchez-Vicario and Stevenson were all moving on to future tournaments. Shaughnessy and Stevenson both lost three-set matches after dominating one set.
Shaughnessy fell to Paola Suarez of Argentina 6-1, 1-6, 6-0 while Stevenson was beaten by Anastasia Mysinka of Russia, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2. Mysinka said that the power game of Stevenson fit her style of play.
``I like to play the big power hitters, like Alexandra or Venus (Williams),'' Myskina said. ``I played Venus in Dubai and it went three sets before I lost 6-4 in the third.''
Myskina will get another crack at the world's No. 2 ranked player when she meets Williams in Thursday's round of 16 match.
Sanchez-Vicario was making her record 13th Bausch & Lomb appearance, but showed little of the form that won her the title in 1993 and '94 after finishing as runner-up in both '91 and '92.
``I don't know if I'll be back next year, I haven't decided on what my plans are for 2003 at this point,'' said Sanchez-Vicario, now in her 17th year on the WTA circuit.
Jelena Dokic, seeded third and ninth-ranked in the world, had her match with Mary Pierce postponed by rain Wednesday night. It was rescheduled for Thursday.
Also postponed was the first appearance of the world's No. 1 ranked doubles team of Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. They have won five tournaments this year, capturing all but one of their 26 matches, losing only to Anna Kournikova-Martina Hingis in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
