Safina regains her focus to reach round three

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russian sixth seed Dinara Safina overcame a couple of concentration lapses to defeat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

Safina established a 3-0 lead in the opening set and a 3-1 advantage in the second but each time seemed to lose her focus, allowing a scrambling Vinci to break back and threaten a fightback.

However, Safina averted the danger by outclassing Vinci with her powerful serves and searing groundstrokes.

The Russian, who has a 17-1 win-loss record since Wimbledon, will next face Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Justin Palmer)