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 US Open on Thursday.

Venus Williams eased into the third round of the US Open on Thursday by demolishing Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay 6-0, 6-3 despite a lacklustre performance sprinkled with unforced errors.

Anne Keothavong became the first British woman to reach the third round of the US Open since 1991 when she knocked out 25th seed Francesca Schiavone with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win on Wednesday.

Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko shrugged off his recent poor form to charge into the second round of the US Open with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Israel's Dudi Sela on Wednesday.

Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo overcame fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the U.S. Open.