By BUD L. ELLIS

The Brunswick News

It was by no stretch of the imagination the prettiest match Anna Kournikova has played in her tennis career.

But after a three-set victory over Maria Fernanda Alves in the first round of the Cloister Cup on Sea Island Wednesday, the Russian star was happy to have her first match in a month end with a win, no matter how it looked.

"Obviously, it's not the best match I've played," said Kournikova, a 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 winner over Alves, who retired in the third set with a left thigh injury. "I was really happy I pulled it out."

Kournikova, ranked No. 67 in the world, had not played since tearing her left abductor muscle in the first round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., April 9. She couldn't play tennis for three weeks, and is in the Cloister Cup as part of her preparation for the French Open later this month.

She will have to play a lot better in Paris than she did in her first outing at the Cloister tennis facility. Seven double faults and a multitude of unforced errors, plus a spirited effort by Alves, gave Kournikova a serious push, and had many of the 400 or so spectators wondering if this would be Kournikova's first and last match in the United States Tennis Association Pro Circuit event.

But coming off a month of inactivity, it's a push Kournikova said she needed.

"That's why I'm here," she said. "I need to play as many matches as I can."

Kournikova was to meet Gabriela Volekova in the second round Thursday afternoon. A victory there would send her into Friday's quarterfinals.

But for a while Wednesday, Kournikova's stay at Sea Island looked like it might be short. She fell behind 4-1 to the left-handed Alves in the first set. After fighting back to within 5-4, Kournikova lost the next game, one in which she held the advantage in deuce four times, to drop the first set.

The second set was more of the same. Kournikova lost the first two games, won the next two, then fell behind 4-2. She rallied to take the next two to tie it at 4-4.

The ninth game was the key to the match. In deuce, Kournikova held the advantage twice, only to have Alves tie it back up. But Kournikova won the game with a convincing cross-court slam, and did not lose another game the rest of the way.

"It was kind of the same setup as the first set," she said. "One went her way. That one went my way. I haven't played in a long time and I had to find my rhythm."

She didn't have any trouble finding her competitive spirit, however. Several times, Kournikova voiced her displeasure with officials' rulings, one time rolling her eyes in disgust at a call that went against her.

Warned for delay of game after going up 5-4 in the second set, Kournikova responded by saying, "I'm scared," drawing some ooohs and a few chuckles from the crowd.

The best thing to happen Wednesday for Kournikova was she said she didn't feel any pain from her injury.

That, and surviving the first round, was enough.

"These matches are hard," she said. "The girls are so hungry, they fight for every point. They have nothing to lose."