Stuttgart stroll for Safina

World number one Dinara Safina destroyed Italian Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Russian world number one storms through against Italian

World number one Dinara Safina destroyed Italian Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The Russian needed just 25 minutes to win the first set without dropping a game, and she quickly steamed through the second with the match wrapped up in 51 minutes. World number 37 Errani had no answer to the thumping forehands from Safina, who climbed to the top of the world rankings last week. Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva was made to work much harder by German Anna-Lena Groenefeld before going through 6-4 3-6 6-3. The second-seeded Dementieva broke serve twice in the first set but her opponent levelled by breaking twice in the second. Groenefeld ran out of steam in the decider though and too many mistakes cost her a chance of an upset victory. "It was a difficult match. She can hit some unbelievable shots," Dementieva said. Eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland comfortably beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6 6-0, while seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3 7-5. Veteran Japanese Ai Sugiyama lost 6-3 2-6 7-6 to Hungarian Agnes Szavay in a marathon match lasting two hours and 23 minutes. In an all-Chinese clash Li Na had little trouble disposing of Peng Shuai 6-2 6-3.