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Safina posts first-round Cincinnati win
CINCINNATI, Struggling Dinara Safina was among the first-round winners Monday at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.
Safina is a former world No. 1 but came into the event unseeded after dropping seven of her previous eight matches. She got off to a good start Monday, however, prevailing in straight sets over Italian Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-4 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Safina is seeking to regain her form in Cincinnati, where last year she gained the finals before bowing to Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
Elsewhere Monday, No. 13 seed Shahar Peer of Israel advanced when Belarusian Olga Govortsova retired while trailing 6-3, 4-1, and Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski upset 14th-seeded Aravane Rezai of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 16 seed and former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France breezed past Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-0.
CINCINNATI, Struggling Dinara Safina was among the first-round winners Monday at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.
Safina is a former world No. 1 but came into the event unseeded after dropping seven of her previous eight matches. She got off to a good start Monday, however, prevailing in straight sets over Italian Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-4 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Safina is seeking to regain her form in Cincinnati, where last year she gained the finals before bowing to Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
Elsewhere Monday, No. 13 seed Shahar Peer of Israel advanced when Belarusian Olga Govortsova retired while trailing 6-3, 4-1, and Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski upset 14th-seeded Aravane Rezai of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 16 seed and former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France breezed past Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-0.
