In the women's singles, No. 3 seed Safina came back from a poor start against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova for a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-0 win.
Vera Zvonareva (seeded 7), Nadezhda Petrova (10) and Alisa Kleibanova (29) also secured spots in the next round of the year's first Grand Slam, but Russia's 17-seeded Anna Chakvetadze lost to Australia's Jelena Dokic 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6.
In the men's singles, 2005 champion Safin defeated Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. The Russian 26th seed will face No. 2 seed Roger Federer in the third round after the Swiss beat Safin's compatriot Yevgeny Korolyov 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
The 2008 women's champion, Maria Sharapova, announced earlier this month that she would not compete at this year's tournament in Melbourne, saying she was not ready to "compete at the level required to win a Grand Slam" following the shoulder injury that kept her out much of last year.
