NEW YORK // Dinara Safina moved into the second round by beating New Jersey's Kristie Ahn 6-3 6-4. But it came after betraying a sense of sloppiness and temperament attributed to her older brother, Marat Safin. Safina, the No 6 seed, from Russia, acted a lot like her moody brother on the court losing her focus and throwing tantrums. But she later said Safin would not have been proud of her after yesterday's display.
"I would behave like a baby and crying and all this. He [Safin] hated it," Safina, 22, said. "He was always, 'Come on! You have to grow up in your mind. You cannot behave like this'. That's why he's like learning from my experience. Don't do this." Safina, a finalist at this year's French Open as well as the Beijing Olympics, is one of six women who could be ranked No 1 on the women's tour by the end of this tournament - something Safin is certainly proud of.
"I think if she will do everything the opposite of what I've been doing throughout the years, she will be No 1 in the world for a long time," Safin said. "That's as simple as it is. "Two tough finals and I think the third one is here. She should take her chance. I think she is ready to win the first grand slam. I'm really proud of the way she's handling the pressure and the way she's handling herself."
But Safin knows she will have to be more determined than he. Meanwhile, Serena and Venus Williams had an easier time than Ana Ivanovic as the top seed narrowly avoided first-round elimination. The fourth seed Serena posted a 6-1 6-4 triumph over Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko, while seventh seed Venus ousted Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-3. Ivanovic, though, narrowly avoided an upset before emerging with a 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory over the Russian Vera Dushevina.
* Agencies
