Dinara Safina
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| Country |  Russia |
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| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Date of birth | April 27, 1986 | |
| Place of birth | Moscow, Soviet Union now Russia |
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| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb/11 st) | |
| Turned pro | 2001 | |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | |
| Career prize money | $4,116,589 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 249-124 | |
| Career titles: | 6 WTA, 4 ITF | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 9 (May 14, 2007) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 3rd (2004, 2007) | |
| French Open | F (2008) | |
| Wimbledon | 3rd (2005, 2006) | |
| US Open | QF (2006) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 160-83 | |
| Career titles: | 8 WTA, 3 ITF | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 8 (May 12, 2008) | |
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (Tatar Cyrillic: Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина, Latin: Dinara Möbin qızı Safina; Russian: Дина́ра Миха́йловна (Муби́новна) Са́фина), born April 27, 1986, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar ethnicity. She was born in Moscow, Russia. She is the younger sister of former world number one men's player, Marat Safin. She was coached by Glen Schaap, former trainer of Nadia Petrova. Her new coach is Željko Krajan. Her mother, Rauza Islanova used to be her trainer when she was younger and still gives advice to Dinara. Dinara Safina's father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow. She has won one Grand Slam title, the women's double title at the 2007 U.S. Open with her partner Nathalie Dechy. She also reached the final of the French Open in 2008, losing to World No. 1 Ana Ivanović.
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[edit] Tennis career
On July 29, 2002, she entered into the top 100. She also won her first WTA title in Sopot, beating Henrietta Nagyova in the final. In doing so she became the youngest Tour champion in four years and the first qualifier to win a title in three years. In the same year, at the age of 16 in Moscow, she defeated a top 20 player for the first time, (Silvia Farina Elia), who was seeded 14th.
On July 14, 2003, she broke into the top 50. She won her second WTA title over Katarina Srebotnik in Palermo. In that season as well, she reached the fourth round at the 2003 US Open and also reached the quarterfinals at Doha, Sopot and Shanghai. She beat defending champion Magdalena Maleeva, in Moscow.
At the 2004 Australian Open, Safina upset Amanda Coetzer of South Africa before losing to Kim Clijsters of Belgium. For the first time, Dinara finished the year in the Top 50, and reached third career final at Luxembourg where she lost against Alicia Molik.
Dinara Safina won her biggest career singles title at an indoor event in Paris,beating Amelie Mauresmo.
Partnering with Elena Dementieva, she won the decisive doubles rubber in the Fed cup final in 2005. She stunned World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the QF of the 2005 Kremlin Cup, winning 1–6, 6–4, 7–5.
In 2006, Safina reached the tier I Rome final by defeating top 10 players Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova, beaten only by resurgent Martina Hingis 6–2, 7–5.
At the 2006 French Open, Safina made the quarterfinals for the first time in her career. In the fourth round, she beat number four seed Maria Sharapova 7–5, 2–6, 7–5. In the third set, she trailed 1–5 but managed to pull off the upset after almost 21/2 hours of play.
To kick off the grass season, following her strong performance on clay, she reached her first grass court final at the Ordina Open, losing to Michaella Krajicek 6–3, 6–4.
During the 2006 US Open, she again reached a grand slam quarterfinal, this time losing soundly to Amelie Mauresmo. She met with larger success in doubles, where she reached the final with partner Katarina Srebotnik.
Safina reached two finals, two semifinals, and nine quarterfinals in 2006.
[edit] 2007
Safina won her debut tournament in 2007, in Gold Coast, Australia, defeating Shahar Peer 4–6, 7–6(1), 6–1 in the semifinal and Martina Hingis 6–3 3–6 7–5 in the final. Following the 5–0 start to the year, she lost her sixth match of the year to Nicole Pratt 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 in the Sydney tournament. Safina would then finish her Australian season at the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Li Na 6–2 6–2.
Safina reached the quarterfinals at her next two tournaments in Paris and Antwerp, losing to the eventual champions at both—Nadia Petrova in Paris and Amélie Mauresmo in Antwerp.
Safina lost in the third round of her first Tier I event of the year in Indian Wells to Marion Bartoli 6–4, 6–3, and lost in the fourth round at the next Tier I event in Miami to Petrova again 3–6, 6–2, 6–4.
Safina reached her fourth quarterfinal of the year at her first clay event in Amelia Island, Florida, losing to Petrova for the third time in 2007. And at her third Tier I event in Charleston, South Carolina, she would reach her second final of the year, with retirements by Tatiana Golovin and Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinal and semifinal, losing to Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–2. Safina's consistent results on clay continued in Berlin and Rome, reaching the quarterfinals at both events. At the French Open, she lost to Serena Williams 6–2, 6–3 in the fourth round.
Safina lost a three-set thriller to Janković in the semifinal of the Ordina Open in s-'Hertogenbosch 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(6), having had a match point in the tiebreaker. Following that loss, she was upset by Akiko Morigami in the second round of Wimbledon and lost in the second round of both the Acura Classic and East West Bank Classic, to Sania Mirza and Kateryna Bondarenko respectively.
Safina won the women's double title at the 2007 U.S. Open with her partner Nathalie Dechy 6–4, 6–2. Dechy was the defending champion who had beat Safina in the previous final to win the 2006 title.
[edit] 2008
Safina travelled to the 2008 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast, Australia, kicking off her season on the 2008 WTA Tour with her goal to defend her singles and doubles titles from last year. In the singles as third seed she lost in the quarterfinals to Shahar Peer but in the doubles she succeeded playing with Ágnes Szávay. With a #3 seeding, they won the tournament after defeating Yuliana Fedak and Aiko Nakamura 6–3, 6–2 in the first round, Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina 6–3, 6–4 in the quarterfinals, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6–3, 6–1 in the semifinals and second seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie 6–1, 6–2 in the final.
At the Qatar Telecom German Open, Safina beat German wildcard Julia Goerges 6–3, 6–4 in the first round and Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6–4, 6–3 in the second round. In the third round, she faced World No.1 and top seed Justine Henin. Despite holding a 0-5 head to head record with the Belgian, Safina managed to battle from being 5–7, 0–2 down to win the match 5–7, 6–3, 6–1. This victory was Safina's 2nd career victory over a reigning world No.1, and arguably her biggest victory of her career, considering her opponent and the surface. This also made Safina the last player ever to play against and beat Henin before she retired. She then went on to snap Serena Williams 17 match win streak in 3 sets, making her an on form favourite for the title. In the final, Safina defeated countrywoman Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 to win her first Tier I title.
In the fourth round of the French Open, Safina defeated compatriot and World No. 1 Maria Sharapova 6–7, 7–6, 6–2, saving a match point at 5–3 down in the second set, marking her second victory over a World No. 1 in less than two months. In the quarter-finals, Dinara stunningly battled back from the brink of defeat for a second straight match to earn a place in her first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open, coming from 5–2 down in the second set to defeat Elena Dementieva 4–6, 7–6, 6–0. She entered her first grand slam final by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–2 in a one-sided semi-final match at Roland Garros. In the final she was beaten 6–4, 6–3 by Ana Ivanovic from Serbia in a hard fought match.
[edit] Grand Slam finals
[edit] Singles
[edit] Runner-up (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2008 | French Open |  Ana Ivanovic |
6–4, 6–3 |
[edit] Doubles
[edit] Winner (1)
| Year | Championship | Partnering | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 2007 | U.S. Open |  Nathalie Dechy |
 Yung-Jan Chan Chia-Jung Chuang |
6–4, 6–2 |
[edit] Runner-up (1)
| Year | Championship | Partnering | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 2006 | U.S. Open |  Katarina Srebotnik |
Nathalie Dechy Vera Zvonareva |
7–6, 7–5 |
[edit] WTA Tour titles (14)
[edit] Singles wins (6)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| WTA Championships (0) |
| Tier I (1) |
| Tier II (1) |
| Tier III (2) |
| Tier IV (2) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | July 27, 2002 | Sopot, Poland | Clay |  Henrieta Nagyová |
6–3, 4–0 ret. |
| 2. | July 13, 2003 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Katarina Srebotnik |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 3. | February 13, 2005 | Paris, France | Carpet (i) | Amélie Mauresmo |
6–4, 2–6, 6–3 |
| 4. | May 15, 2005 | Prague, Czech Republic | Clay |  Zuzana Ondrášková |
7–6(2), 6–3 |
| 5. | January 6, 2007 | Gold Coast, Australia | Hard |  Martina Hingis |
6–3, 3–6, 7–5 |
| 6. | May 11, 2008 | Berlin, Germany | Clay | Elena Dementieva |
3–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
[edit] Singles finalist (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | October 31, 2004 | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | Hard (i) |  Alicia Molik |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 2. | May 21, 2006 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Martina Hingis |
6–2, 7–5 |
| 3. | June 24, 2006 | s-'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass |  Michaëlla Krajicek |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 4. | April 15, 2007 | Charleston, South Carolina, USA | Clay | Jelena Janković |
6–2, 6–2 |
| 5. | June 7, 2008 | French Open, Paris | Clay | Ana Ivanovic |
6-4, 6-3 |
[edit] Doubles (8)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | September 26, 2004 | Beijing, China | Hard | Emmanuelle Gagliardi |
 Gisela Dulko Maria Vento-Kabchi |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 2. | June 18, 2005 | 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass |  Anabel Medina Garrigues |
Iveta Benešová Nuria Llagostera Vives |
6–4, 2–6, 7–611 |
| 3. | January 7, 2006 | Gold Coast, Australia | Hard |  Meghann Shaughnessy |
 Cara Black Rennae Stubbs |
6–2, 6–3 |
| 4. | February 19, 2006 | Antwerp, Belgium | Carpet Indoor | Katarina Srebotnik |
Stéphanie Foretz Michaëlla Krajicek |
6–1, 6–1 |
| 5. | January 6, 2007 | Gold Coast, Australia | Hard | Katarina Srebotnik |
Iveta Benešová Galina Voskoboeva |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 6. | September 9, 2007 | U.S. Open, New York City, U.S. | Hard | Nathalie Dechy |
Yung-Jan Chan Chia-Jung Chuang |
6–4, 6–2 |
| 7. | January 5, 2008 | Gold Coast, Australia | Hard |  Ágnes Szávay |
 Yan Zi Zheng Jie |
6–1, 6–2 |
| 8. | March 22, 2008 | Indian Wells, California, U.S. | Hard | Elena Vesnina |
Yan Zi Zheng Jie |
6–1, 1–6, [10]-[8] |
[edit] Singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 6–6 |
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | 4R | F | 14–6 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | LQ | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 7–6 | |
| US Open | A | A | 2R | 4R | 1R | 1R | QF | 4R | 11-6 | |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 11-4 | 9-4 | 6-2 | 40-24 |
| WTA Tour Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Doha1 | Not Tier I | 3R | 4–2 | |||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | 1R | A | 3R | QF | 3R | 3R | 6–5 |
| Miami | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 4R | QF | 6–6 |
| Charleston | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | F | 3R | 7–3 |
| Berlin | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | QF | QF | W | 15–5 |
| Rome | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | A | F | QF | A | 11–4 |
| Montréal/Toronto | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | SF | 3R | 6–3 | |
| Tokyo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |
| Moscow | A | LQ | 2R | 2R | 2R | SF | 1R | SF | 10–7 | |
| Tournaments Won | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Year End Ranking | None | 394 | 68 | 54 | 44 | 20 | 11 | 16 | N/A | |
A = did not participate in the tournament
LQ = lost in the qualifying competition for the tournament
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Dinara Safina profile on the WTA Tour's official website
- Photos and Interviews
| Women's Tennis Association | Top ten female tennis players as of June 9, 2008 | |||||
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Safina, Dinara |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Сафина, Динара Михайловна |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Russian tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 27, 1986 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | In My Tiny Little Pussy |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
