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Safina, Kuznetsova, among winners at China Open

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-04 19:10

Dinara Safina of Russia hits a shot during her first round match against Roberta Vinci of Italy at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing October 4, 2009. [Agencies]

BEIJING: Top seeded Dinara Safina ousted Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-4 Sunday to put her China Open tennis campaign on track.

Full Coverage:  China Open 2009 Related readings:  Zheng Jie knocked out of China Open  Tennis: Venus advances at China Open  Venus Williams advances into China Open second round  Ivanovic withdraws from tennis China Open  Kuznetsova confident of China Open 2009

The Russian world No. 1 never dropped serve to take the match in one hour, 24 minutes and advance to the second round.

In other matches, Russian sixth-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova downed China's Zheng Jie 7-6 (3), 7-5, while compatriot Vera Zvonareva roared past Romania's Sorana Cirstea, 6-2, 6-2.

Second-seeded Serena Williams played Estonia's Kaia Kanepi later Sunday in a bid to join older sister Venus, who beat Russia's Vera Dushevina 6-2, 7-6 (1) Saturday. The Williams sistes are among the favorites, along with 2008 champion Jelena Jankovic.

The China Open main draw starts Monday for the men, with world No. 2 Rafael Nadal the favorite in a field that also includes American Andy Roddick and Serbia's Novak Djokovic.

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