While we're talking about Safin...

I probably should mention that his younger sister, sixth-seeded Dinara Safina, easily dispatched Kristie Ahn of Upper Saddle River, N.J., 6-3, 6-4.

As she met with reporters, her older brother was on the court. She joked about their childhood fights, saying she used to behave "like a baby" on the court during their matches. "He hated it," she said. "He always was like, come on. You have to grow up. You cannot behave like this."

Funny that Marat would give such advice, considering his behavior hasn't always been, let's say, classy. Regardless, Safina said she's thankful for receiving those words from her brother, and now she's the one to watch in this year's event.

I was going to write my Web column on Ana Ivanovic, who predictably took an upbeat approach to her first-round scare, saying she was never too worried. But the Safin stuff is too good to pass up. Web column coming soon...