This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2008)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

Dinara Safina
Country	Russia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco; Moscow, Russia
Date of birth	April 27, 1986 (1986-04-27) (age 22)
Place of birth	Moscow, Soviet Union now Russia
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	US$5,431,001
Singles
Career record:	281–133
Career titles:	9 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking:	No. 2 (October 13, 2008)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3R (2004, 2007)
French Open	F (2008)
Wimbledon	3R (2005, 2006, 2008)
US Open	SF (2008)
Major tournaments
WTA Championships	RR (2008)
Doubles
Career record:	164–86
Career titles:	8 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking:	No. 8 (May 12, 2008)
Major doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (2008)
Mixed Doubles
Career record:	{{{mixedrecord}}}
Career titles:	{{{mixedtitles}}}
Highest ranking:	{{{highestmixedranking}}}
Infobox last updated on: November 10, 2008.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Competitor for  Russia
Silver	2008 Beijing	Singles

Safina at the 2006 Australian Open.

Safina at the 2007 Australian Open.

Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (Tatar: Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; Dinara Möbin qızı Safina; Russian: Дина́ра Миха́йловна (Муби́новна) Са́фина), born April 27, 1986, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar ethnicity. As of November 3, 2008, she is ranked World No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She has won one Grand Slam title, the women's doubles title at the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy, and reached one Grand Slam singles final at the 2008 French Open. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 games in Beijing. She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin.

[edit] Early career

She was born in Moscow, Russia to Tatar parents. 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.

[edit] Tennis career

On July 29, 2002, she entered into the top 100. She also won her first WTA title in Sopot, beating Henrieta Nagyová 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 year as well, she reached the fourth round of 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, Safina finished the year in the Top 50, and reached her third career final at Luxembourg where she lost to Alicia Molik. She won the singles title at an indoor event in Paris, beating Amélie Mauresmo.

Partnering with Elena Dementieva, she won the doubles rubber in the Fed Cup final in 2005. She defeated World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Kremlin Cup 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 fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova 7–5, 2–6, 7–5. In the third set, she trailed 1–5 but won after almost 2+¹⁄₂ hours of play.

To kick off the grass court 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 to Amélie Mauresmo. She met with greater 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 Pe'er 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. Shelost 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 in three sets 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 US Open with Nathalie Dechy 6–4, 6–2. Dechy was the defending champion who had beat Safina in the 2006 US Open doubles final.

[edit] 2008

Safina travelled to the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast, Australia, kicking off her season on the 2008 WTA Tour defending her singles and doubles titles from 2007. In the singles as the third seed, she lost in the quarterfinals to Shahar Pe'er but in the doubles she succeeded playing with Ágnes Szávay. With a third seeding, they won the tournament after defeating top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the semifinals 6–3, 6–1 and second seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in the final.

At the Qatar Telecom German Open, Safina beat German wildcard Julia Goerges in the first round 6–3, 6–4 and Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the second round 6–4, 6–3. 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 second career victory over a reigning World No. 1. This also made Safina the last player ever to play against and beat Henin before she retired. She then went on to break Serena Williams's 17 match win streak in three sets. In the final, Safina defeated countrywoman Elena Dementieva to win her first Tier I title.

Safina at the Qatar Telecom German Open (Berlin)

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 quarterfinals, Safina battled back from the brink of defeat for a second straight match to earn a place in her first Grand Slam semifinal, coming from 5–2 down in the second set to defeat Elena Dementieva 4–6, 7–6, 6–0. She then earned her first Grand Slam final by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinals. In the final, she was beaten 6–4, 6–3 by Ana Ivanović from Serbia. After the French Open, Safina became the only player ranked inside the top 10 in both singles and doubles.^{[citation needed]} She then participated in a Tier III in s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, where she was seeded third. She defeated Pauline Parmentier 6–4, 6–1. In the third round she defeated Camille Pin 6–1, 6–4, and received a walkover into the semis after Katarina Srebotnik withdrew with an ankle injury. There she defeated World No. 5 Elena Dementieva 6–3, 6–2. She lost in the final to Tamarine Tanasugarn 7–5, 6–3.

At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, she lost to Shahar Pe'er in the third round 7–5, 6–7, 8–6, saving a match point in the second set and serving for the match herself in the third set at 5–4. Safina struggled with a thigh injury during the closing stages of the match^{[citation needed]}, and finished the match with a double fault to give Peer victory. Her next scheduled event was the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California where she was the fourth seed. She defeated top-seeded Jelena Janković in the semifinals and Flavia Pennetta in the final, moving up to World No. 8, her career high at the time. After this win, Safina became one of only three players this year to save a match point on the way to winning the title.^[1]

At the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada, she was seeded seventh. Safina defeated Patty Schnyder in the third round 6–2, 6–2 and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, coming back from a break down in both the second and third sets. She then went on to defeat Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals 6–0, 2–6, 6–3. In the final, she defeated Dominika Cibulková to capture her second Tier I title of the year and her career. With this win, she rose to World No. 6, her highest career ranking. Because of this victory she also won the US Open Series.^[2] She then took part in the Beijing Olympics. Seeded sixth, she beat recent Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie 6–4, 6–3. She then beat World No. 1 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, for her third win over a World No. 1 in 2008. Safina is the first player in history to beat three different reigning World No. 1s in the same year, beating Justine Henin at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Maria Sharapova at the French Open, and Janković at the Beijing Olympics.^[3] In the semifinals, she defeated home crowd favourite Li Na 7–6(3), 7–5. In the gold medal match, Safina lost to Elena Dementieva 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, in a match where she served 17 double faults.^[4]

At the US Open, Safina was seeded sixth and was one of five women able to take over the World No. 1 ranking. In the first round she beat Kristie Ahn 6–1, 6–4, and followed it up with a 6–4, 6–3 win over Roberta Vinci. In the third round she beat Timea Bacsinszky 3–6, 7–5, 6–2. She beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7–5, 6–0 in the fourth round. She followed that with a 6–2, 6–3 victory over Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals. She was defeated by Serena Williams in the semifinals, 6–3, 6–2. Her semifinal appearance pushed her up to a career best of World No. 5. At the Tier I in Toyko, she was seeded fourth and received a first round bye and defeated Dominika Cibulková 6–3, 6–4 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, she beat Kaia Kanepi 6–4, 6–7, 6–2. Then in the semifinals she won against Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–0, to make her seventh final of the year. In the final, she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–1, 6–3. She also rose up to a career high of World No. 3 after her victory. At Stuttgart, she was seeded third and a received a bye in the second round where she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova 6–1, 7–6. She was defeated by Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, 6–4, 6–2, which was their first meeting.

In the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, she was seeded second but lost all three of her round robin matches, to Venus Williams 7–5, 6–3, Serena Williams 6–4, 6–1, and Elena Dementieva 6–2, 6–4.

[edit] Grand Slam finals

[edit] Singles

[edit] Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2008	French Open	Ana Ivanović	6–4, 6–3

[edit] Women's doubles

[edit] Win (1)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
2007	US Open	Nathalie Dechy	Yung-Jan Chan Chia-Jung Chuang	6–4, 6–2

[edit] Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
2006	US Open	Katarina Srebotnik	Nathalie Dechy Vera Zvonareva	7–6, 7–5

[edit] Titles (17)

[edit] Singles wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	July 27, 2002	Sopot, Poland	Clay	Henrieta Nagyová	6–3, 4–0 retired
2.	July 13, 2003	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	6–3, 6–4
3.	February 13, 2005	Paris	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	Clay	Elena Dementieva	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
7.	July 27, 2008	Los Angeles	Hard	Flavia Pennetta	6–4, 6–2
8.	August 3, 2008	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Dominika Cibulková	6–2, 6–1
9.	September 21, 2008	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–1, 6–3

[edit] Doubles (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
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, 7–6(11)
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	US Open, New York City	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] Runner-ups

[edit] Singles (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
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, U.S.	Clay	Jelena Janković	6–2, 6–2
5.	June 7, 2008	French Open, Paris	Clay	Ana Ivanović	6–4, 6–3
6.	June 21, 2008	s-'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Tamarine Tanasugarn	7–5, 6–3
7.	August 17, 2008	Summer Olympics, Beijing	Hard	Elena Dementieva	3–6, 7–5, 6–3

[edit] Singles performance timeline

A = did not participate in the tournament

LQ = lost in the qualifying competition for the tournament

• ¹ As of 2008, Doha became a Tier I tournament, replacing San Diego and Zurich.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Dinara Safina

• Official site
• Dinara Safina profile on the WTA Tour's official website
• Dinara Safina at the International Tennis Federation
• Dinara Safina at the Fed Cup