Women's top seed Dinara Safina flirted with an early exit for a second successive match but held on to defeat Germany's Kristina Barrois in 3 sets and reach the third round of the U.S. tennis Open in New York.
World number one Safina had 15 double faults and 38 unforced errors during a two-hour, 13-minute match.
The Russian was aided by her unseeded opponent's 43 unforced errors.
In the third round the 23-year-old Safina will meet either Tathiana Garbin of Italy or Czech Petra Kvitova.
Safina, seeking her first grand slam title, needed three sets to defeat Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska in the opening round.
