There is no surprise that Serena Williams grabs headlines at the big events for the United States. However, other American women attempted to create their own headlines with early success in Miami. While none beyond Serena advanced deep into the tournament, there were still positive takeaways for some.

Coco Vandeweghe came into the Sony Open after participating primarily in qualifiers and ITF events with a total of just three wins in 2014. One of those was a first-round victory at Indian Wells against rising Romanian Alexandra Cadantu, her best result of the season. Despite that outcome, there was little pointing to the potential for a run in Miami. Nonetheless, one was made by the California native.

After defeating 68th-ranked Marina Erakovic in straight sets, Vandeweghe logged one of her career-best victories by defeating the 21st-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in convincing fashion. Not resting on her laurels, the 22-year-old American followed that result with a three-set victory over 2011 US Open Champion Samantha Stosur. Finally, Vandeweghe's Miami run came to an end at the hands of Williams.

Despite the loss, there are many more positives than negatives to take away from Vandeweghe’s results in Florida. For the first time since 2012, she put together a string of victories against elite competition. In the Stanford tournament that summer, she defeated Jelena Jankovic, Urszula Radwanska and Yanina Wickmayer in order before falling to Williams in the final. There is much to be said for the run at this higher-level tournament by Vandeweghe, who should be on the doorstep to break back into the top 100 afterward.

Another American who made strides in Miami was Varvara Lepchenko. Lepchenko had jumped out to a fast start in 2014 with success in Sydney prior to the Australian Open. There, she advanced to the round of 16 with a solid win against Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was ranked No. 20 at the time. Recently, she defeated veteran Daniela Hantuchova at Indian Wells in the second round.

With some momentum at her back, it was not shocking that Lepchenko would be a difficult out in Miami. But the American advanced further than expected with a trio of victories that included a three-set win against world No. 6 Jelena Jankovic in the second round. The results pitted her in a match up with Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16, where she ran into a buzz saw and won just one game. Nevertheless, Lepchenko can certainly build upon her result in Miami, her second solid tournament of 2014.

Also at the Sony Open, Venus Williams continued her 2014 resurgence by rolling to the round of 16 where she severely tested Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. Williams had not competed since taking the Dubai Premier title in February. The seven-time major champion appears determined to disprove claims from naysayers and pundits that her career is in its twilight.

Meanwhile, Madison Keys advanced to the third round in Miami and held set points in the first set against world No. 2 Li Na. Keys has been stymied near her current ranking of No. 38 recently, but the 19-year-old talent gained beneficial experience that should create more opportunities to break down the wall holding her back from the next level.

At the end of the day, Serena Williams is the only American woman advancing to the Miami quarterfinals, but others benefited from positive early results at this elite tournament. By continuing their success there, some of the Americans lurking behind Serena will look to close the gap on the world's best, even as they remain in the shadow of the most dominant player the women's game has known.