Shaky Safina, Sharapova Win at US Open
Top-seeded Dinara Safina escaped an embarrassing upset Tuesday in her opener at the US Open, coming back to defeat Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4.
“Very tough one,” Safina said. “Well, I made it, you know. I made it into the second round, and you know, that’s a positive thing, because tomorrow is another day. Another chance to step in the court and you know, definitely play a better match.”
Other Top 10 winners were (4) Elena Dementieva, (5) Jelena Jankovic, (6) Svetlana Kuznetsova, and (9) Caroline Wozniacki, all in straight sets.
“I was pretty aggressive today,” Dementieva said. “I think the most important thing was [to] be focused on the game and not to get her rhythm, which was quite slow. I’m glad I was able to stay all the way and not to lose my concentration.”
Dementieva will next face American Melanie Oudin, who beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
There were four upset-makers on the day in the Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko who outlasted and out-cried (11) Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(7), Belgian Yanina Wickmayer who topped (16) Virginie Razzano, Czech Petra Kvitova who clubbed (27) Alisa Kleybanova 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2, and Israel’s Shahar Peer who rolled (32) Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-2.
“I created a lot of chances for myself, and I’m really disappointed that I made a few mistakes in the important moments and my forehand let me down on a few occasions and obviously it hurts…Yeah, it’s very disappointing. You know, it hurts. I can tell you that,” Ivanovic said.
Three qualifiers and a wildcard also moved into the second round Tuesday in American (Q) Shenay Perry, Croatian (Q) Petra Martic, Australian (Q) Anastasia Rodionova, and American (WC) Christina McHale.
Lower seed Maria Sharapova was also a winner, featured in the night match due to her new Nike dress and Rafael Nadal headband, beating Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-0.
“I was pretty happy because I kind of came from a slow court in Toronto to a pretty fast court here, which you always know going into the US Open, the Arthur Ashe Stadium is pretty quick,” Sharapova said. “So it was all about adjustment. I played a tricky opponent who doesn’t give you much rhythm.”
Highlights on the women’s side Wednesday are (17) Amelie Mauresmo vs. Canuck Aleksandra Wozniak, an all-American in Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. (3) Venus Williams, Hungarian Melinda Czink vs. (2) Serena Williams, Indian princess Sania Mirza vs. (10) Flavia Pennetta, (14) Marion Bartoli vs. Kim Clijsters, an all-Russian in (7) Vera Zvonareva vs. Anna Chakvetadze, (15) Samantha Stosur vs. American Vania King, and Maria Kirilenko vs. (12) Agnieszka Radwanska.
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