She defeated 167th-ranked Olivia Rogowska of Australia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in a match that included 113 unforced errors, 24 double-faults and 15 service breaks over 2 hours, 35 minutes.
“I didn’t break any rackets and didn’t get any warnings,” Safina said, when asked if there were any silver linings. “That’s already positive.”
She overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third set to avoid becoming the first top seed to be ousted in the first round of any Grand Slam since Martina Hingis lost 6-4, 6-2 to Ruano Pascual at Wimbledon in 2001.
Safina served out her final game at love, forcing errors on Rogowska’s ground strokes during one of the top-seeded player’s few sustained runs of consistency.
Most of the rest looked like it belonged at Central Park, not Arthur Ashe Stadium, and often, it was more entertaining to watch Safina’s coach, Zeljko Krajan, slumping, scowling, shaking his head and watching the whole thing in disbelief from his lonely seat in the stands.
Safina moves on, but all the questions about her worthiness as the world’s No. 1 player will almost certainly gather steam.
No. 2 Serena Williams has won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. Safina doesn’t yet have a career Grand Slam victory, getting blown out in all three finals she’s been in.
Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Julia Goerges of Germany.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion at Flushing Meadows and this year’s French Open champion, broke open a 3-3 tie in the first set and won nine of the next 11 games for the victory.
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