NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Anna Pistolesi upset fifth-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 in the first round of the Pilot Pen on Sunday.
The unseeded Israeli is coming off two straight singles titles on clay in lower-tier tournaments in Poland and Finland. She needed more than 2 1/2 hours to defeat the hard-hitting Russian, ranked a career-best 10th in the world.
"It could have gone either way," Pistolesi said. "Maybe I played a little better on some key points."
She acknowledged the field at New Haven, a hard-court tournament which serves as the final U.S. Open tuneup, is stronger than her last two tournaments.
"But still the confidence is there," Pistolesi said.
The other scheduled first-round match between Vera Zvonareva of Russia and American Sarah Taylor was suspended by rain and will resume Monday.
While Myskina had the stronger ground strokes and service game, she doomed herself with unforced errors.
"I lost the match, I don't think she won the match," Myskina said. "I played really bad today."
Both players called for the trainer during the match, which featured long volleys and several games with at three deuce points. Myskina aggravated a sore shoulder and Pistolesi began cramping up early in the third set.
Pistolesi, ranked 23rd in the world, rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set, winning four straight games to go up 5-4. Myskina toughened up the next game, holding serve after fighting off three match points.
"I had to stay very tough mentally," Pistolesi said. "I knew I had a match point and I kept thinking about it a little bit after that. But I had to go on if I wanted to win."
Myskina she couldn't overcome her own errors in the final set, which ended when she sent a volley into the net.
Lindsay Davenport, ranked No. 4, is the tournament's top-seeded player and will play later this week. Four-time defending champ Venus Williams opted to skip the tournament because of an abdominal injury.
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