Safina rediscovers winning form

Former world number one Dinara Safina claimed just a third win in her past 11 matches after beating first-round opponent Andrea Petkovic at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Safina, ranked 70 in the world, showed glimpses of her best as she took one hour and 40 minutes to overcome Germany's Petkovic 6-3 6-3.

Injury and poor form this year has resulted in Safina's slide down the rankings with the 24-year-old having failed to win twice at a tournament since the Australian Open in January - when she withdrew in the fourth round with a back complaint.

The Russian will face either compatriot and 18th seed Nadia Petrova or Lucie Safarova in the next round.

Israel's Shahar Peer was the only seed to fall on the opening day of the hard-court tournament after the 14th seed lost 6-3 6-3 against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Fellow seeds Yanina Wickmayer (13) and Aravane Rezai (16) both progressed.

Qualifier Iveta Benesova booked a second-round meeting with top seed Jelena Jankovic after the Czech brushed aside Sara Errani 6-3 6-2.

Benesova was joined in the round-of-32 by fellow qualifiers Jarmilla Groth and Vania King while veteran Patty Schnyder, a lucky loser, battled from a set down to beat Virginie Razzano 6-7 (7/4) 7-5 6-3 and set up a meeting with second seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Local hopeful Stephanie Dubois lost to Klara Zakopalova in three sets in the final match of the day while Sybille Bammer, Yaroslava Shvedova and Timea Bacsiznsky also won through.