Safina regains her focus to reach round three

Dinara Safina of Russia reacts to winning against Roberta Vinci of Italy during their match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows in New York, August 28, 2008.

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)