23 January,2009 09:34 AM IST | | Agencies
Dinara Safina is through to the fourth round at the Australian Open, beating Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in straight sets today morning to open play at Rod Laver Arena.
The 22-year-old Russian took 4-1 leads in each of the sets and went on to a 6-2, 6-2 win in 66 minutes.
Kanepi never stood a chance against the in-form Russian and didn't help her cause with 30 unforced errors in the match. Safina, on the other hand, was precise and used her power to hit deep winnersu00a016 as compared to 10 by the Estonian.
It marks the first time that Safina has advanced past the third round in seven trips to the Australian Open. She lost in the first round last year.
She will either play Daniela Hantuchova or Alize Cornet in the last 16.
Safina has yet to win a Grand Slam singles title, although she lost last year's French Open final to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and also the gold medal match in the Beijing Olympics.
