Scare for Safina

The world number one was forced to come from a set down in Arthur Ashe Stadium to take a 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-4 victory against the Australian in two hours and 35 minutes.

Safina reached the last four at Flushing Meadows last year, but was fortunate to advance to the second round against a player ranked 166 places below her in the world rankings.

The first set was riddled with errors, and although Safina had three breaks of serve, a woeful display of tennis from the Russian allowed Rogowska to break back every time and take the set into a tie-break.

More mistakes followed from Safina's racket and the top seed was punished as her Australian opponent took a surprise lead in the match.

Safina had to wait until the second set to find some form, but when she did the Russian visibly grew in confidence and breaks in the fifth and seventh game put her back on level terms, but Rogowska's response was nothing short of outstanding and some big hitting allowed her to race into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set.

Safina, a three-time finalist in grand slams, was in danger of making an embarrassing exit but somehow held herself together and clawed her way back with a break of serve in game seven.

It was the spur the Russian needed and she pushed hard to claim the next three games, sealing the match on serve with a winning forehand.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Jelena Jankovic overcame an erratic start to clinch victory over unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci.

The Serbian, beaten in last year's final by Serena Williams when seeded second, needed just 63 minutes to win her first-round match at Flushing Meadows 6-2 6-3.