KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Serena Williams capitalized on a critical double-fault by Yaroslava Shvedova to survive a 69-minute first set and win her opening match at the Sony Open 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Thursday. "It was an incredibly tough first set," Williams said. "I just needed to relax and yet keep up the intensity." The top-ranked Williams seeks a record seventh Key Biscayne title, and her second in a row. No. 4-seeded Maria Sharapova, a five-time runner-up in the tournament, joined Williams in the third round by beating Kurumi Nara 6-3, 6-4. Seeded players had first-round byes. In mens play, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt became the third active man to win 600 matches when he rallied past Robin Haase of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Fellow Australian Bernard Tomic lasted only 28 minutes in the shortest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991, losing to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. Tomic, who won just 13 points, is mounting a comeback from surgery on both hips and was playing for the first time since January. "I did the best as I could," he said. "Hopefully in a little bit of time I can get back to 100 per cent." Williams, who owns a small share of the NFLs Miami Dolphins, wore a dress in the teams orange and turquoise colours -- which may explain her slow start. Or maybe it was because she hadnt played since Feb. 21. Williams had to erase a 5-3 deficit in the first set, and then fell behind 6-3 in the tiebreaker. Shvedova pushed a forehand into the net, then the Kazakh hit a nervous double-fault that allowed Williams to exhale. She won the next two points with aces, then closed out the set with a backhand winner, a fist pump and a scream of "Yes!" Her game steadied in the second set, when she had 18 winners and only 10 unforced errors -- bad news perhaps for opponents to come in the tournament Williams considers her hometown event. She lives an hour north in Palm Beach Gardens. "I love playing here," she told the crowd. The 33-year-old Hewitt also staged a comeback. With the victory, he joined Roger Federer (942 wins) and Rafael Nadal (675) in reaching the 600 match milestone. "Not many people get the opportunity to get close to that, so it means I have been around for an awfully long time," Hewitt said. "Im getting old. A few years ago when I had the last couple of surgeries, I probably would have doubted Id get to this stage. Im grateful Im out there and able to compete with the best guys." In other womens play, No. 5-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany won her opening match, beating Peng Shuai of China 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5). Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, matched her best showing at Key Biscayne by reaching the third round. Ana Ivanovic beat American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-1, and No. 8 Petra Kvitova defeated Argentinas Paula Ormaechea 6-3, 6-4. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 champion, lost to Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 7-5. Fridays stadium court schedule features the winners of 34 Grand Slam titles in five matches. The parade of champions will include Federer, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams, Andy Murray and Li Na playing their opening matches. Blue Cowboys Jerseys . Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane wanted to stay in Chicago and the Blackhawks wanted to keep the high-scoring forwards in the only NHL uniform they have ever known. Throwback Cowboys Jerseys . Canada will host the second stop on the circuit, the 2014 Skate Canada International in Kelowna, British Columbia from October 31 - November 2, 2014 at Prospera Place. http://www.officialcowboysnflauthenticshop.com/?tag=trysten-hill-gear .28 for a combined time of 1:14.70, also an Olympic record. Lee won the gold medal, defending her title from the Vancouver Games. Youth Cowboys Jerseys . Fans in the Jets viewing region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 5:30pm ct and listeners can tune in to TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg. Cheap Cowboys Jerseys . Anderson is scheduled to have neck surgery April 8 to repair the injury, which occurred when he collided with the Celtics Gerald Wallace during a game in Boston on Jan. 3. The 6-foot-10 Pelicans forward, who had been averaging 19.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After hitting goal posts all night, Brad Boyes and the Florida Panthers at last got a friendly bounce in the shootout. Boyes game-winning goal hit the left post before going off goaltender Jhonas Enroth and into the goal to give Florida a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. "Finally luck shifted a bit," Boyes said with a grin. Boyes also scored in regulation, while Tim Thomas made 23 saves and was perfect in the shootout for Florida, which won on the road for the first time since Dec. 19. The winner meant extra for Boyes against his former teammate Enroth. "Being here and going against him in practice a lot, he was showing me glove," Boyes said. "He was kinda waving it to me like he was onto me and he knows where I go. I have trouble with guys that I played with so it was nice to get it on him. I like that one." The Panthers carried much of the play, outshooting Buffalo 35-24, but the sound of puck on metal was on a loop. Tomas Fleischmann hit the goal post twice in the third period, and Drew Shore also put one off the pipe in the frame. "It wouldve been nice if a few posts counted as a goal," said defenceman Brian Campbell. "If you hit eight posts, maybe you get a goal or something." Jamie McBain scored for Buffalo, whose new general manager Tim Murray got a closeup view of the tough rebuilding job ahead of him and special adviser Craig Patrick, introduced earlier Thursday by team President Pat LaFontaine. The Sabres squandered a 1-0 lead and wasted a strong performance from Enroth, who was named to the Swedish Olympic team on Tuesday. "I wanted to go out there and show everybody that I earned it," Enroth said. Enroth is 1-9-3 this season, but the Sabres have scored just 17 goals in his starts and been shut out thrice. He couldnt explain the lack of goal support. "Im running out of answers on those questions," Enroth said. The loss ended a five-game home win streak for Buffalo, who is still 6-0-2 in its last eight at First Niagara Center. Florida started the game well, with eight shots on Enroth in the first 4:35 of play. Thomas then stopped a one-timer from Brayden McNabb about five minutes into the game. Buffalo had the games first power play after an interference call against Ed Jovanovski, and Thomas made a sprawling save on Jamie McBain to keep the game scoreless. "They got some great chances, some great looks," said Florida head coach Peter Horachek. "Timmy was rock solid, he kept us in the game." After play was whistled dead because of a scrum in Floridas crease, John Scott tossed the puck in the net and received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Enroth saved a shot by Alexander Barkov on thee ensuing power play and made 13 saves in the period as Buffalo was outshot by five.dddddddddddd Buffalo broke through in the second period when McBain streaked into the slot to collect Steve Otts pass and fired low past Thomas right pad at the 5:13 mark. Brian Flynn had a breakaway moments later but Thomas smothered the shot to keep the deficit 1-0. Buffalo had trouble finding momentum despite the lead and killing off an abbreviated 5-on-3 penalty. "Usually when you kill a big penalty kill, you get some momentum, but I don t know," Enroth said. "Its tough to win with this team." Florida nearly equalized at the start of the third period, as Fleischmann had the puck in front of Enroth and used a deft move to get the goalie moving but backhanded the puck off the post. The Panthers finally beat Enroth at the 8:16 mark, after a weak clearance attempt by Alexander Sulzer. Enroth was slow to get up and Tom Gilbert took a slap shot that Boyes, an ex-Sabre, deflected into the goal. Florida had another Boyes goal disallowed when play was blown dead due to an injury to defenceman Dmitry Kulikov in the Panthers zone. Kulikov was bleeding after being struck in the face with a high stick. "Ultimately, Boyes goal in the period should have counted or there should have been a four-minute penalty, one or the other," Horachek said. "But thats the way it goes. " Thomas made a sliding stop on Brian Flynn in overtime. Jonathan Huberdeau appeared to put the Panthers in front during the shootout, but was ruled to have pushed Enroths pad across the line. Campbell played in his 800th career NHL game. His first 391 came with Buffalo, which drafted him in the 6th round of the 1997 NHL Draft. "You want to have longevity in this game and it all started here so its nice to be back here," Campbell said. The 34-year-old defenceman said its weird to see the Sabres with a new general manager, but is hopeful for the teams fan base. "Hopefully Pat LaFontaine can steer them in the right direction," Campbell said. "Im sure he will. Hopefully its good things ahead for the fans. They deserve it. Its been tough sledding. I know we were good in 05 and 06 and got her going but the Bills have struggled a little bit, too. They deserve a lot more for all the support they give." The Sabres next play in Washington on Sunday, while Florida travels to New Jersey for a Saturday night game. NOTES: It was Buffalos first game since Jan. 4. A blizzard caused the postponement of Tuesdays game against Carolina. ... Floridas scratches were C Scott Gomez, D Mike Mottau and C Shawn Matthias. ... Tyler Myers sat out the first game of a three-game suspension for a hit to the head of Dainius Zubrus. 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