Safina fights back to beat Srebotnik in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct 2 (Reuters) Russia's Dinara Safina overcame a ragged start to beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 5-7 6-2 6-4 and reach the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.

Srebotnik edged a first set that featured five breaks of serve before Safina got her act together.

The Russian sped into a 4-0 lead and after levelling the match grabbed an early break in the decider to set up victory in two hours three minutes Yesterday.

Safina, the world number 17, will go on to play world number one Justine Henin in the second round of the 650,000 dollars indoor hard court tournament.

In the day's only other match in the main draw Tatiana Golovin overwhelmed German wildcard Martina Mueller 6-1 6-1.

REUTERS BJR RK0950