 Safina was made to work hard by Razzano but ultimately prevailed
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World number one Dinara Safina beat France's Virginie Razzano 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 in the second round of the Italian Open on a rain-affected day in Rome.
Safina struggled throughout the first set after losing her first service game but hung in to win on a tie-breaker.
The second set was more straight forward and she romped home for the loss of only one game.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic is also through after beating Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
Safina, a runner-up in Italy in 2006, is looking for her first title since ascending to the top of the world rankings in April.
She struggled throughout her first set, dropping serve in the first and seventh games but breaking straight back on both occasions.
However, once she entered the tie-break it was a different matter as she took total command to claim it 7-1.
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The second set was a formality as Safina upped her game at the expense of an opponent whose momentum was lost.
Safina, whose match started after the rain, complained that the weather had made the courts too soft and, as a result, dangerous.
"I was just so angry because you can get injured," she said. "They tell us go and play because they think the court is fine but they are not playing on it.
"They have to have a little bit of respect for us as players."
Safina now faces Chinese 14th seed Zheng Jie in the 3rd round after she defeated Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.
Third-seed Jankovic was far from her best and was forced to stay on court for almost two hours by an opponent who beat her in the second round in Miami last month.
Despite a minor scare when Dulko broke back from 4-2 down, Jankovic was in control throughout the first set and appeared on course for a straightforward victory.
However, at 4-2 down in the second set Dulko won three straight games and four times had a chance to tie up the set but could not capitalise before rain caused a three-and-a-half hour delay.
When the second set went to a tie-break, Jankovic looked set to run away with it after opening up a 6-2 lead but Dulko pulled it back to 6-6 before throwing it away with two unforced errors.
"I just let her come back into the match. I was angry at myself because I was thinking that I should have already finished this match," said Jankovic.
"It was difficult but I managed to somehow stay positive and stay strong and win that second set and win this match."
The Serbian former world number one will meet Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko in the third round after she beat last year's runner-up and this year's thirteen seed Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-1 in the only match to be completed before the rain delay.
Russian duo Svetlana Kuznetsova , seeded seventh, and Nadia Petrova , seeded eighth, are through after victories over Daniela Hantuchova and Carla Suarez Navarro respectively.
Fellow seeds Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Italian Flavia Pennetta are also through.
However, eleventh seed Marion Bartoli is out after losing 6-1 7-5 to Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
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