Cincinnati, Aug. 12: Dinara Safina bounced back after losing the first set Tuesday to beat Roberta Vinci at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.
The top-ranked Russian, who was runner-up at the French and Australian Opens, beat her Italian opponent 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in second-round play at the $2 million event.
Safina racked up 10 double faults in the match, which lasted nearly two hours.
Venus Williams of the United States also advanced Tuesday by dispatching Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-2.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova struggled against Czech Lucie Safarova but eventually prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-4).
