Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (Russian: Дина́ра Миха́йловна (Муби́новна) Са́фина; Tatar: Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина, Dinara Möbin qızı Safina), born April 27, 1986, is a Russian professional tennis player. As of April 27, 2009, she is ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association. She has been the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments and won the women's doubles title at the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her most recent achievement is runner-up in the 2009 French Open. She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. She and her brother are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve a #1 ranking.
Safina is an aggressive baseliner. She likes to take the ball on the rise with full power on every shot. Her sharp angled forehand can set up a point that will be hit with a big and heavy forehand which will be converted to a winner. Her backhand can be flat and heavy and can be devastating on some of her games. She boasts a powerful first serve that sometimes lacks consistency in tight moments. Her primary weakness is her mental toughness, particularly in Grand Slam finals. Her emotions on court can adversely affect her game, though her mental toughness has considerably improved. She was also regarded as one of the most healthy and fit players on tour. Though an adequate lateral mover, she is less nimble moving forward and tends to avoid net play.
Safina began the year by representing Russia with her brother Marat Safin in the Hopman Cup in Perth. She defeated her first three opponents: Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, and Alizé Cornet of France, but lost in the final to Slovak Dominika Cibulková 6–7, 6–1, 6–4.
Safina was seeded second at the Medibank International in Sydney. She defeated Sorana Cirstea in the first round, compatriot Vera Dushevina in the second round, Cornet in the quarterfinals, and Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to compatriot and third-seed Elena Dementieva.
At the Australian Open, Safina defeated Alla Kudryavtseva, Ekaterina Makarova, and 25th-seeded Kaia Kanepi in rounds one, two, and three, respectively. In the fourth round, she overcame Cornet 6–2, 2–6, 7–5 after having been down 5–2 and facing two match points in the third set. Safina defeated the Australian wild card entry Jelena Dokic in the quarterfinals 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, and Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals to reach the second Grand Slam final of her career. She lost to Serena Williams in the final in 59 minutes. Had Safina won the tournament, she would have assumed the World No. 1 ranking.
At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier 5 event on the tour, Safina lost in the second round to eventual finalist Virginie Razzano 6–4, 6–2 after receiving a bye in the first round.
Although she was seeded first at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, Safina made 56 unforced errors while losing in the quarterfinals to eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6–7, 6–1, 6–3. Safina would have replaced Serena Williams as the World No. 1 player had Safina reached the final of this tournament.
At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Safina lost in the third round to Australia's Samantha Stosur 6–1, 6–4.
On April 20, Safina became the 19th player, and second Russian after Maria Sharapova, to be ranked World No. 1 by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Safina and her brother Marat Safin are the first ever brother-sister World No. 1 pair, with Safin having been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals earlier in his career.
On clay, Safina lost in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart to Svetlana Kuznetsova. The following week at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, a Premier 5 event, Safina defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals 6–7, 6–3, 6–4 and Kuznetsova in the final. She was the first Russian to win this tournament. Safina then advanced to the final at the inaugural Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. She defeated Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–4 in the final to win her second consecutive title in the space of two weeks.
Competing as the top seed at the 2009 French Open, Safina advanced to the quarterfinals dropping just five games, defeating Anne Keothavong 6-0, 6-0, Vitalia Diatchenko, 27th seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Aravane Rezai. Safina was tested by Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in the first set of the quarterfinals, but ultimately prevailed 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. She beat Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinals with a score of 6-3, 6-3 to reach her third Grand Slam Final where she lost to Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2.
Like Jelena Jankovic a former world #1 who hadn't won a major title, Safina has been criticised by Justine Henin and many others about her No. 1 ranking because she has not won a major title. Unlike Jankovic, Safina had at least made a Grand Slam final before acheiving her #1 ranking. (wikipedia - newsimg.bbc.co.uk - www.chartherct.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment