Dinara Safina is hoping the major scare she received in the opening round of the US Open can be more beneficial in her bid for a first grand slam title than her almost perfect run to this year's French Open final.
World number one Safina had to come from a set down against Olivia Rogowska in Arthur Ashe Stadium to carve out a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 victory against the unseeded Australian in two hours and 35 minutes.
The Russian was relieved to get past the world number 167 and into the second round of the final grand slam of the year having played so poorly in an error-strewn first set that saw Rogowska break back three times and win a tie-break.
Once she did find her rhythm, Safina got back into the game although there were still more scares on the way to victory as Rogowska took a 3-0 lead in the final set.
Having cruised into the final at Roland Garros in June only to lose to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, Safina is hoping a tough opener will bring her a better chance of landing a long awaited grand slam victory.
‘That was a very tough one,’ Safina said, ‘I made it (tough). I made it into the second round and that's a positive thing because tomorrow is another day, another chance to step on the court and play a better match.
‘I would take it like this,’ she added with a laugh. ‘In the French Open I won all the matches 6-1, 6-0. Did it help? Not really.’
Former champion Maria Sharapova continued her comeback from shoulder surgery with an impressive opening win over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.
The 2006 champion from Russia, seeded 29th, and using a new service motion as she rehabilitates her right shoulder, looked to have conquered her problems those changes had brought by only serving four double faults as she romped to a 6-3 6-0 victory to stay on course for a third-round date with fourth seed Elena Dementieva.
‘I played a very tricky opponent that didn't give me much room and I'm also coming from a pretty slow court in Toronto, so it was just about adjusting,’ Sharapova said.
‘I had a little bit of a slow start, made a few easy errors but I just got in the groove and was able to close it out.
‘This is a grand slam and you've got to get going in your first match. It's a privilege to be playing any singles player out here and I'm more than excited to have an opportunity to play any match here after being gone. This is what it's all about.’
Dementieva raced into the second round with a 50-minute 6-1 6-2 victory on the Grandstand court over France's Camille Pin.
The Olympic champion from Russia, coming into the US Open after winner her 14th WTA Tour title in Toronto last month, set up a second-round date with American Melanie Oudin, who knocked out Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon this summer.
In the same quarter of the draw as Safina, fifth seed Jankovic overcame an erratic start to clinch an opening US Open victory over unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci.
The Serbian, beaten in last year's final by Serena Williams when seeded second, needed just 63 minutes to win her first-round match at Flushing Meadows 6-2 6-3.
Coming off her title success at the Cincinnati Masters two weeks ago, Jankovic had seemed out of sorts as she opened her campaign with a double fault and then went a break down in the first game of her match on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court.
Yet for all the jitters, Vinci's service was in even worse shape. She handed the advantage back to Jankovic immediately and it was all one-way traffic from there.
Eleventh seed Ana Ivanovic opened strongly against Kateryna Bonderova of Ukraine as she began her attempt to reach a first grand slam quarter-final of the year.
Yet the Serbian reverted to her run of poor form, letting her rival back in and then losing a third-set tie-break, Bondarenko winning 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).
French Open champion and 2004 US Open winner Kuznetsova was another comfortable winner, defeating Germany's Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2, and the sixth-seeded Russian will be joined in the second round by potential fourth round opponents Caroline Wozniacki, Nadia Petrova and Sorana Cirstea.
Denmark's Wozniacki, seeded ninth, hammered Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-0 while number 13 seed Petrova from Russia beat Katerina Srebotik of Slovenia 6-3 6-3 and Romanian Cirstea, seeded 24th, knocked out Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1 6-3.
Also in that section of the draw is Israel's Shahar Peer, who eliminated 32nd seed Agnes Szavay 6-2 6-2 and could be on course for a third-round clash with Kuznetsova.
Other upsets saw number 16 seed Virginie Razzano of France ousted by Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, 6-4 6-3 and 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova of Russia knocked out by Czech Petra Kvtlova, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2.
Number 19 seed Patty Schnyder of Austria came from behind to edge past Czech player Lucie Safarova 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6) and there were also wins for number 21 seed Jie Zheng of China, number 23 seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany, and the Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, the 30th seed.
