Safina survives scare at U.S. Open
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 | 12:56 AM ET
CBC Sports
Dinara Safina reacts after winning a point during her first-round match against Olivia Rogowska. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)Top-ranked Dinara Safina avoided becoming the first top-seeded woman ever to lose her opening match at the U.S. Open, rallying to defeat Olivia Rogowska of Australia in three sets.
Safina committed 11 double faults and 48 unforced errors against Rogowska, 18, a wild-card entry who's ranked 167th in the world.
A major upset looked to be in the offing as Rogowska took a 4-2 lead in the deciding set. But Safina reeled off four straight games to win 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in just over 2½ hours and remain in the running for her first major title.
After serving out the match at love, a relieved Safina pumped her fists and later waved to the audience at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which gave a warmer send-off to the underdog.
"I didn't break any racquets and I didn't get any warnings, so that's already positive," said the temperamental Russian, drawing laughs from the New York crowd.
"At the changeover when I was 4-3 down [in the third set], I was like, please, just try to see the ball when you serve. That's why I didn't make one double fault [the rest of the way]."
In the evening, 2006 champion Maria Sharapova of Russia returned to the tournament with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
After missing last year's tourney with a shoulder injury, the three-time Grand Slam title winner produced 29 winners — a whopping 23 more than her 98th-ranked opponent. And Sharapova's game was particularly clean in the second set, when she hit 16 winners and only five unforced errors.
Apart from four double-faults, Sharapova showed no signs of the shoulder tear that forced her to have surgery in October and kept her off the tour for nearly 10 months.
"This is a Grand Slam. You've got to get going from the first match," Sharapova said. "After being gone, this is what it's all about."
Sharapova's game was as glittery as her black and silver dress and matching headwrap, an outfit she described as a tribute to New York's skyline.
The worst showing ever by a top-seeded woman in New York came last year, when Ana Ivanovic exited in the second round. Now seeded 11th, Ivanovic did herself one worse this time, losing in the first round to 52nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7).
Ivanovic was not the only seeded player who was upset: 276th-ranked Jesse Witten of Naples, Fla., knocked off No. 29-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; Nicolas Lapentti beat No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-3; and Ivan Navarro beat No. 27 Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5).
Canada's Dubois advances
Earlier, Stephanie Dubois became the second Canadian to win her opening match at this year's U.S. Open, defeating Kristina Mladenovi of France 6-0, 6-4.
It was the first career Grand Slam event victory for Dubois, who joins fellow Quebecer Aleksandra Wozniak in the second round.
"I'm really happy to have finally won a match at a Grand Slam," said Dubois, who capitalized on nine double faults by her teenaged opponent. "I'm pleased with how I played and it would really be great to carry this further. I played aggressive and didn't let her dominate."
Dubois, the world's 113th-ranked women's player, will meet Sorana Cirstea next. The 24th-seeded Romanian dispatched Ayumi Morita in straight sets Tuesday.
Wozniak, ranked 39th, faces a tough matchup against 17th-seeded Amelie Mauresmo. The Frenchwoman is a two-time Grand Slam winner, and has a pair of semifinal appearances at Flushing Meadows under her belt.
Nestor, Zimonjic victorious in 64 minutes
In men's doubles, Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic defeated Germans Andreas Beck and Simon Greul 6-3, 7-5.
Nestor's win took just 64 minutes, with the Canadian's team firing six aces and breaking twice while never facing a break point from their untried opponents.
"It was a good start," said Nestor. "But we will have to pick it up in the next match."
The second-seeded Nestor and Zimonjic, who won Wimbledon in July, captured their seventh title of the season just over a week ago when they beat American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan for the Cincinnati title.
Also advancing in women's singles were No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 19 Patty Schnyder, No. 23 Sabine Lisicki and No. 30 Alona Bondarenko. The latter three required three sets to win their openers.
There was one upset as No. 16 Virginie Razzano fell in straight sets to Yanina Wickmayer.
Men's winners included No. 2-seeded Andy Murray, last year's U.S. Open runner-up, who defeated Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in Tuesday night's last match.
Also advancing were 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and that tournament's runner-up, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, along with No. 10 Fernando Verdasco, No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez and No. 16 Marin Cilic.
With files from The Associated Press
