Dinara Safina of Russia, serves to Roberta Vinci of Italy, during their second round match of the 2009 Cincinnati Women's Open tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 12, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

Current world No.1 Dinara Safina won over 55th-ranked Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the third round of Cincinnati Open, according to reports on Wednesday.

The Russian, who entered in her 17th consecutive week as a top-ranked world player, didn't feel well at the beginning of the match. "It was a day when nothing was going," Safina told the reporters, "Everything was going all over the place...So I just accepted it. I thought that if I lose I just have to forget this match as soon as possible, because it makes no sense. It's not me, not my normal game." She dropped the first set 2-6.

Safina called for her coach and after a quick consultation, things began to change for her and then she came up with a service break with Vinci serving for the match in the second set at 5-4. She won three straight games to force a third set, then put Vinci away 6-4 in the deciding set. Safina hurt herself with 48 unforced errors, including 10 double faults.

Safina's next opponent would be either Chinese Peng Shuai, who ousted Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1, or Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who defeated Russian Vera Dushevina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)