Venus Pull Leaves No U.S. Seeds at WTA Miami

With a bye in the first round the elder Williams sister wouldn't have played until Saturday, but decided the elbow was too painful, so her 2006 record will remain 0-1 after a first-round loss at the Australian Open.

"It has always been a thrill to play near my home," Williams said in a possibly computer-generated statement. "I deeply regret that I will not have the opportunity to compete at the NASDAQ-100 Open this year. My rehabilitation continues to progress, and I look forward to returning to competition in the very near future."

Otherwise it was "C"-squad-American Day on Wednesday, with U.S. contestants posting a 3-5 win-loss record with winners (WC) Jamea Jackson (d. countrywoman Harkleroad in three), Meghann Shaughnessy (d. Santangelo from a set down), and "lucky loser" last-minute draw entrant Mashona Washington (d. countrywoman Raymond).

Chair umpire Alison Lang announced "Miss Jackson challenges the call" after Jackson used the very-first video replay in pro tennis history in the second set of her match, wrongly challenging a ball she thought might have been in.

"It takes a lot of pressure off," Jackson told reporters of the video replay system. "You don't get so angry. If you think a call is incorrect, you don't spend extra games thinking about it."

To the dismay of WTA officials, who don't allow coaching, Jackson explained how she and coach Rodrigo Nascimento figured out a system between them to challenge calls.

"Before the match I was really excited about it," Jackson told reporters. "He was like, 'Stay focused. If you really think one was good or out, then look at me and I'll tell you what I thought, and then you can challenge.' So I looked at him and he was like, 'Whatever. Go for it.' And so I did."

Later in the match, Harkleroad overturned a call in her favor, and says the system will improve human officiating.

"(The linespeople are) probably going to be on their best behavior with that thing going on," Harkleroad told reporters. "Sometimes maybe they get a little lazy. They do call bad line calls. But they know that this thing's going on, and they don't want to mess up."

No. 11 seed Nicole Vaidisova pulled from the event Wednesday with a right shoulder injury.

In other matches of note, Aussie Sam Stosur put a stop to 35-year-old wildcard Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in straight sets, and Czech Iveta Benesova edged (WC) Sanja "Little Sis" Ancic 7-6 in the third.

Five qualifiers also advanced into the second round Wednesday in China's TianTian Sun (d. (WC) Haynes), Greece's Eleni Daniilidou (d. (WC) Perry), the Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko (d. (LL) Pironkova), France's Stephanie Foretz (d. (Q) Sequera), and Belarus' Anastasiya Yakimova (d. Nakamura from a set down).

For complete results see: http://www.tennis-x.com/tennisresults.php

The few women's highlights Thursday in another day of all-unseeded play are Akiko Morigami vs. Na Li to see who faces Maria Sharapova, and the doubles match-up of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo vs. Frenchwomen Nathalie Dechy and Tatiana Golovin.