Dinara Safina: Reaching for No. 1 in the WTA

The WTA, shaken to its proverbial corps with the abrupt retirement of Justine Henin prior to the French Open in 2008, enjoys a resurgence of interest in the women’s game as the 2009 season unfolds. Parity now sits on the doorstep, adding spice and intrigue to the women’s game.

With an unending sequence of scenarios of tennis pros making it to the top, Dinara Safina must be regarded as one of the leaders of the pack. She stood out as one of the hottest players of 2008. 

Shedding her neophyte game and body, Safina transformed herself into a player to be reckoned with as she advanced up the rankings. More than any other player, she took advantage of the hole left by Henin to assert herself into the headlines and to impact the women’s game.  

She deepened her commitment by improving her fitness and her temperament. 

At 6'2", with a wicked two-handed back hand, Dinara stood in the shadow of her more famous brother, Marat Safin, prior to 2008. So far it appears that she may have the stability and the backbone that her more famous brother lacks. 

Safina stands tall in victory and in defeat, able to look both squarely in the face and admit her failings and embrace her triumphs.

Dinara turned pro in 2001, and she has enjoyed some success and notoriety prior to 2008; but she was not relevant until this year.

At the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourt Tournament in Gold Coast, Australia, Safina reigned as both the singles and doubles champion of 2007. In singles, she lost in the quarterfinals to Shahar Pe’er but did defend her doubles title with Agnes Szavay.

Later at the Qatar Telecom German Open, Safina faced World No. 1, Justine Henin in the third round and defeated her in thrilling fashion. Going into the match, Dinara had lost five straight times to Henin. 

In fact, Safina had to battle back from the brink of defeat to claim her victory over the Belgian. She was down in the match, 5-7, before surging from an 0-2 deficit to claim the second set, 6-3. The third set was all Dinara, and she took it, 6-1. 

This was only the second victory for Safina over the world No. 1 and remarkably it was the last defeat suffered by Henin before she called it day in France and headed into early retirement.

It was the 2008 French Open that unveiled the new and superior Dinara Safina. With Henin’s retirement, Maria Sharapova took the No. 1 mantle, holding it precariously while playing on a surface she detested, the red clay, where she described herself as a “cow on ice.” 

Sharapova met fellow country woman Safina in the fourth round. The first two sets produced sterling tennis from the tall Russians, with Sharapova winning the first set in a tie break, 7-6.

In the second set, Safina was down, 3-5, and she saved match point, coming back to snatch a victory by taking the second set in a tie break, also 7-6, and going on to dominate Sharapova in the third set, 6-1.

She had just knocked off another No. 1 seed and she was just getting warmed up!

In her next match, again, breaking back from the brink, Safina overtook Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals to win, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0.  In the semis, she downed Svetlana Kuznetsova with dispatch, 6-3, 6-2. 

In the finals she faltered for the first time and lost to Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-3. She won many fans with her fighting spirit. After the French, she became the only woman to be seeded in the top 10 in both singles and doubles.

At Wimbledon, Safina lost to Shahar Pe’er in the third round, 7-5, 6-7, 8-6. By the end of the match, she was fighting a thigh injury and the hard-fought contest concluded with Dinara tossing in a double fault. The loss was difficult to take.

At the East West Bank Classic held in Carson, Calif., Safina defeated Jelena Jankovic in the semis and Flavia Pennetta in the final. Her victory moved her up in the WTA rankings to No. 8. It was her highest career ranking.

Safina was seeded seventh at the Roger’s Cup in Montreal. She rolled through the tournament defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final, 6-2, 6-1. This moved her up to No. 6 and meant Dinara Safina also won the US Open Series.

She met and defeated Zheng Jie, 6-4, 6-3 at the Beijing Olympics. Then she defeated another No. 1 seed, Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. This marked her third victory over a No. 1 seed in 2008. She became the only woman in the history of the game to defeat three number ones in one year.

In the semifinals, Safina defeated Li Na, 7-6, 7-5. Li Na was the hometown favorite and it was a tough encounter. The final, however, went to Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. For Dinara it was a disappointing match where she served 17 double faults.

By the U.S. Open, Safina was one of five women capable of securing the No. 1 ranking, depending on her performance during the tournament. Seeded sixth and after early success, Safina met Serena Williams in the semifinals and lost to her, 6-3, 6-2. 

The semifinal appearance, however, pushed her up to the No. 5 world ranking. 

In Tokyo, Safina was seeded fourth. She defeated Nadia Petrova by a 6-1, 6-0 score in the semifinals. This meant Dinara reached her seventh final of the year where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 6-3, to win the tournament. This sent her up to the No. 3 WTA ranking.

Later, at Stuttgart, she was seeded No. 3. She met and was defeated by Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-2. Remarkably, it was their first meeting. 

At the year-end championships, Dinara Safina was seeded second—but she lost all of her round-robin matches. It was an unfortunate ending for an otherwise brilliant second season in 2008. 

Dinara ended the year with the No. 2 world ranking just behind Jelena Jankovic. But more than the ranking was the marked improvement in Safina’s game, her attitude, and her maturity.

Dinara Safina and her brother Marat Safin are playing together in January at the Hopman Cup in Perth prior to the Australian Open. It should be a fascinating pairing. Both are moving on to the Australian Open afterwards.

As 2009 nears, pundits will be hard-pressed not to take note of the promise Safina exuded throughout 2008 with her determination and her drive to succeed. It will be difficult to bet against Safin’s baby sister as the battle for No. 1 begins in earnest.