Safina fired nine aces at Dominika Cibulkova in taking a 6-3, 6-4 win. Safina's first serve success was the difference in the relatively close match. She won 76 percent of the points when her first serve was in.

The tournament's first round was completed Wednesday with fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova defeating Li Na, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. The decision marked a little revenge for Kuznetsova, who lost to Li in the recent Olympic tennis tournament.

Other first-round matches -- all involving unseeded players -- saw qualifier Katarina Srebotnik stop Carolina Wozniacki, 6-1, 6-2; Nadia Petrova beat Aravane Rezai, 7-5, 6-2; and Virginie Razzano top Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-2.

The Pan Pacific second round is set for Thursday with top-seeded Jelena Jankovic topping the card with a match against Flavia Pennetta.