Dinara Safina had a comfortable 6-3 6-3 victory over world No.36 Andrea Petkovic in the first round of the Rogers Cup played in Montreal this year. The Russian won the Rogers Cup the last time the tournament was played in Montreal, in 2008. In that final she defeated Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-1.
At this point last year Safina was ranked No.1, but right now she’s as low as No.70. She has suffered a drop of 35 spots since last week, failing to defend her finals showing in Cincinnati.
Safina’s opponent in the second round will be the winner of the match between No.18 seed Nadia Petrova and Lucie Safarova. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)