Dinara Safina survived inhospitable weather and a game opponent to advance on the opening day of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

The ninth-seeded Russian edged Camille Pin of France 7-6 (9), 3-6, 7-5 in a first-round match on Monday that lasted two hours, 36 minutes on a chilly and blustery night at the Rexall Centre.

Dinara Safina lunges for a shot during her match against Camille Pin of France in the first round of the Rogers Cup. The ninth-seeded Safin avoided an upset with a three-set win.Dinara Safina lunges for a shot during her match against Camille Pin of France in the first round of the Rogers Cup. The ninth-seeded Safin avoided an upset with a three-set win.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

"It was the same wind for her, so I think it was not an excuse, the wind. It was my head, my brain," Safina said. "I think the next match will be better."

Safina, No. 14 in the world, looked strong at the outset, going up 4-1 in the first set. But Pin, just 91st in the world, put up a stiff challenge from that point on, fighting against the wind that swirled around the stadium at York University, with gusts up to 30 kilometres an hour.

Pin looked poised to score a major upset in her Rogers Cup debut, leading 4-1 in the third set before Safina, 21, fought back to win the marathon match.

"I was thinking, I'm not going to give this match away, and I was just fighting point by point," Safina said.

In contrast, Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, the No. 10 seed, cruised to victory in her opening-round match Monday afternoon.

Schnyder needed just an hour and 12 minutes to defeat unseeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-2 in their first-round match-up at the women's tennis tournament on the campus of York University.

"I would never take matches as routine, because you always have to be aware of the opponent's weapons," said Schnyder, who is making her first appearance at the event since 2002. "I just went through nicely, like the court tells me. But yes, I had to stay focused, and handle the conditions, and it was not easy."

Other seeded players moving included No. 11 Shahar Peer of Israel, who defeated Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 7-5, 7-6 (7). No. 12 Tatiana Golovin of France breezed past Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1, while No. 14 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia recovered to dispatch Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

The tournament's top eight seeds, including world No. 1 Justin Henin of Belgium and defending Rogers Cup champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, received byes into the second round and play their opening matches on Tuesday.

In other results from Monday:

  • Roberta Vinci (Italy) defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) 6-0, 6-0.
  • Francesca Schiavone (Italy) defeated Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
  • Peng Shuai (China) defeated Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-2.
  • Flavia Pennetta (Italy) defeated Olga Poutchkova (Russia) 6-3, 7-5.
  • Zi Yan (China) defeated Severine Bremond (France) 6-4, 6-0.
  • Tathiana Garbin (Italy) defeated Laura Granville (United States) 6-2, 6-0.
  • Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) defeated Angelika Bachmann (Germany) 6-2, 6-4.
  • Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) defeated Varvara Lepchenko (Uzbekistan) 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

In doubles action, seventh-ranked Schiavone and Vinci defeated Valerie Tetreault of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., 6-4, 6-2.

Andreea Ehritt-Vanc of Romania and teammate Anastasia Rodionova of Russia defeated Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., and Marie-Eve Pelletier of Repentigny, Que., 6-4, 6-4.

The singles semifinals go Saturday (CBC, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET) and the final is slated for Sunday (CBC, 2 p.m. ET).

With files from the Canadian Press