CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Tenth-seeded Amanda Coetzer needed three sets and 74 unforced errors Monday to defeat Denisa Chladkova in the opening round of the Family Circle Cup.

Coetzer, the highest seeded player in action, defeated Chladkova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. She will face Laura Granville, who advanced to the second round by beating Bethanie Mattek 6-2, 6-2.

Several matches were postponed, including one between 12th-seeded Anna Pistolesi and Els Callens, when an afternoon shower curtailed play.

Coetzer, the 1998 tournament winner, said the nearly three-hour match against Chladkova was long and hard fought.

''I started off quite well -- I was up 3-1 (in the first set) -- and I didn't win another game,'' Coetzer said. ''But she made a few errors, and all of a sudden the match turned around for me.''

Coetzer is trying to bounce back from a year in which she finished out of the top 20 for the first time in a decade. She started the season by advancing to the quarterfinals at Sydney for the first time in 10 appearances.

In February, she reached the finals in Memphis before winning her first title in two years at the Mexican Open -- the ninth championship of her career.

Coetzer's topspin ground strokes pinned Chladkova behind the baseline for most of the match, setting up the impatient younger player for drop shots and increasingly tempting her to try risky shots that missed their mark.

''First I had to try to neutralize points,'' Coetzer said. ''She was hitting the ball very well, and I knew that was a danger.''

Also, the last player in the 56-woman field moved on to the second round. Maureen Drake, who qualified when Jennifer Capriati pulled out with a sore throat, defeated Yoon-Jeong Cho 6-1, 6-1.

Ten seeded players, led by No. 1 Serena Williams, will play Tuesday.