ranked Dinara Safina committed 17 double faults in losing to Aravane Rezai of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Rogers Cup Wednesday. Maria Sharapova also made 17 double faults but beat Austria's Sybille Bammer 6-3, 7-6 (5). Safina, who'd conceded only one game to Rezai at the French Open, was broken three straight times in the third and deciding set, slamming her racket on the ground after the final point and barely acknowledging Rezai when they met at the net after the match. Anger gave way to tears afterward, as the Russian fought her emotions while trying to explain how the match got away. “It's my brain,” said Safina, who lost an opening match for the first time since February. “I know exactly what I have to do, but if I'm not using my brain, I'm not doing the things my coach is telling me . . . (I'm) too disappointed with myself.” Also out was eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to Zheng Jie of China 7-5, 6-3, and No. 12 Flavia Pennetta to Virginie Razzano of France 6-3, 6-1. Seeded players to advance to the third round included No. 4 Elena Dementieva, who cruised past Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-2, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic, who topped Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-4, and No. 7 Vera Zvonareva, who downed Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3. Zvonareva will next meet unseeded Sharapova, who was on the comeback trail from surgery to her serving shoulder. Sharapova has reached at least the quarterfinals in four of her five events since returning in May. Safina's serve betrayed her from the start – but she worked through the problems in the first set, fighting off four of five break points while capitalizing on two of her own. But Safina's six double faults were her undoing in the second set, and she added seven more in the deciding set to hand Rezai her first ever win over a No. 1 seed. Despite the loss, Safina was in no danger of losing her No. 1 ranking – even if No. 2 Serena Williams goes on to win the tournament. Williams hit the court late Wednesday against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. In other action, No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland routed Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-1, 6-1; Shahar Peer of Israel bested Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-6 (2), 6-4; and Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko cruised past Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-0. Kim Clijsters cruised past Elena Baltacha of Britain 6-3, 6-4. The 2005 Rogers Cup champion and former world No. 1 looked solid from beginning to end in her second tournament following more than two years away from tennis. In the late match, Australian Samantha Stosur made short work of No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3. Ninth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a three-time winner on tour this year, dispatched Peng Shuai of China 6-3, 6-3, and Flavia Pennetta of Italy, celebrating her top-10 breakthrough, defeated Maria Kirilenko of Russia by the same score. Federer shows form Roger Federer held serve throughout a 6-3, 7-5 win over Jose Acasuso in the second round of the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters Wednesday, facing only one break point in his opener. The Swiss star made 70 percent of his first serves and piled up 14 aces while getting accustomed to the tournament's heat, humidity and famously fast courts. Parts of his game were a little slow, but his accurate serve pushed the speed limit and carried him through a star-packed day. His match was the second of four in a row on center court involving top-ranked players – Federer, No. 2 Andy Murray, No. 3 Rafael Nadal and No. 4 Novak Djokovic. In the evening? No. 5 Andy Roddick. Djokovic beat Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the opening match, and after Federer, defending champion Murray defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-2. Seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Federer last week, was upset himself by Australian qualifier Chris Guccione 7-6 (12), 6-2. Through to the third round were ninth-seeded Gilles Simon, who beat Igor Andreev of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 6-1, and David Ferrer of Spain, who topped Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (4), 6-2 in their third matchup this year. Ferrer has won the last two. Another Russian, Igor Kunitsyn, beat 2007 runner-up James Blake 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-4 in the American's first tour match since Wimbledon following a layoff for a foot injury.
