Dinara Safina

Dinara Safina

Country (sports)	Russia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco Moscow, Russia
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$7,321,494
Singles
Career record	309–139
Career titles	11 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (April 20, 2009)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (2009)
French Open	F (2008)
Wimbledon	3R (2005, 2006, 2008)
US Open	SF (2008)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2008)
Olympic Games	Silver medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record	167–86
Career titles	8 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (May 12, 2008)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2004, 2005)
French Open	3R (2006, 2007, 2008)
Wimbledon	3R (2005, 2008)
US Open	W (2007)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (2008)
Last updated on: May 18, 2009.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Representing Russia
	2008 Beijing	Singles

Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (Russian: Дина́ра Миха́йловна (Муби́новна) Са́фина; Template:Lang-tt, 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 two 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. She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin.

Family and coaching

Safina was born in Moscow, Russia to Tatar parents. Her mother, Rauza Islanova, was her trainer when she was younger and still gives advice to Dinara. Dinara's father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow.

Previously, Safina was coached by Glen Schaap, former trainer of Nadia Petrova. Her current coach is Željko Krajan. She trains in Varazdin, Croatia at his behest.

Tennis career

2002–2006

Safina at the 2006 Australian Open.

On July 29, 2002, she entered into the top 100. She 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, 14th seeded (Silvia Farina Elia). On July 14, 2003, she broke into the top 50. She won her second WTA title over Katarina Srebotnik in Palermo. In that year she also reached the fourth round of the 2003 US Open and 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 Open Gaz de France, 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.

2007

Safina at the 2007 Australian Open.

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.

2008

Safina started the year by playing three tournaments in Australia, losing in the first round of two of them but won one doubles title. At the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament in Gold Coast, Safina defeated Flavia Pennetta in the second round but lost to Shahar Pe'er in the quarterfinals. In doubles, however, she successfully defended her title from the previous year, partnering Ágnes Szávay. At the Medibank International in Sydney, Safina lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchova. Safina was seeded sixteenth at the Australian Open but was defeated by German Sabine Lisicki in the first round.

Safina played two tournaments in the Middle East in February and March. At the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Safina lost to eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva in the third round. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Safina lost in the second round to sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze.

Safina played both of the Tier I tournaments in the United States in March and April. At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Safina lost to American Ashley Harkleroad in the third round. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida the following week, Safina again lost to Zvonareva, this time in the quarterfinals.

Safina's next four tournaments were on clay. At the Bausch & Lomp Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Safina lost in the third round to Alona Bondarenko in three sets. The following week at the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Safina was defeated by tenth-seeded Szávay in the third round. Safina's breakthrough came at the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. In the third round, she faced World No. 1 and top seeded Justine Henin. Despite never having won a set from Henin in their previous five meetings, Safina won the match 5–7, 6–3, 6–1 after trailing 2–0 in the second set. This was Henin's last match on the WTA Tour before announcing her retirement. Safina then broke Serena Williams's 17-match wining streak in three sets, coming from behind again after losing the first set. In the final, Safina defeated fellow countrywoman Elena Dementieva to win her first Tier I title. In the fourth round of the French Open, Safina defeated World No. 1 and top seeded Maria Sharapova 6–7(6), 7–6(5), 6–2 in a match lasting 2 hours and 52 minutes, saving a match point at 5–3 down in the second set. This marked her second victory over a World No. 1 in less than two months. In the quarterfinals, Safina was again on the brink of defeat in her match with Dementieva after losing the first set 6–4 and trailing 5–2 in the second set. But Safina won 11 of the next 12 games, including saving a match point on her serve at 4-5 in the second set, to win 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–0 to earn her first Grand Slam semifinal. She then went on to defeat another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. In her first Grand Slam final, she was beaten 6–4, 6–3 by Ana Ivanović from Serbia.

Safina at the Qatar Telecom German Open (Berlin)

As part of her preparations for Wimbledon, Safina played the Tier III Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. She defeated Elena Dementieva in the semifinals 6–3, 6–2 but lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final 7–5, 6–3. This was Safina's third consecutive final appearance. Seeded ninth at the Wimbledon, Safina lost in the third round to Israeli Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 6–7, 8–6 in 3 hours, 25 minutes. Safina had saved a match point in the second set and served for the match in the third set at 5–4 but was broken. She then went on to lose the match, double faulting on match point.

Her next event was the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California. She defeated eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Jelena Janković in the semifinals before claiming her second title of the year, defeating Pennetta in the final. After this win, Safina became one of only three players in 2008 to save a match point on the way to winning the title. Safina moved up to World No. 8 in the rankings, her career high at the time.

In her next tournament at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada, Safina defeated ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder in the third round, fourth-seeded Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, and eleventh-seeded Azarenka in the semifinals. Safina then went on to win her second Tier I title of the year and her third title of the year, defeating Slovak Dominika Cibulková. With this win, she rose to World No. 6, her highest career ranking. She also won the US Open Series as a result of this victory.

Safina was one of four women representing Russia at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Seeded sixth, she defeated World No. 1 and second-seeded Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals in three sets. This made Safina the first player in the history of the WTA Tour to defeat three different reigning World No. 1s in the same year, previously defeating Henin in Berlin and Sharapova at the French Open. In the semifinals, she defeated crowd favourite Li Na in straight sets. In the gold medal match, however, Safina lost to Dementieva in three sets. Seemingly in control after winning the first set, Safina served 17 double faults and committed 54 unforced errors en route to her loss. Safina also entered the doubles competition at the Summer Olympics with Kuznetsova, the pair seeded first. They were, however, defeated by the eighth-seeded team of Yan Zi/Zheng Jie in the third round.

At the US Open, Safina was seeded sixth and was one of five women who could have taken the World No. 1 ranking, depending on their results in this tournament. In the quarterfinals, Safina defeated sixteenth-seeded Pennetta but lost in the semifinals to the eventual winner, Serena Williams, 6–3, 6–2. After this tournament, her ranking rose to a career high of World No. 5.

Safina defeated fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–0 in the semifinals of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. In her seventh final of the year, she defeated Kuznetsova in straight sets to win her third Tier I title of the year. She also rose to a career high of World No. 3 after her victory.

Safina played Venus Williams for the first time in their careers in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennix Grand Prix in Stuttgart, with Williams winning 6–4, 6–2.

At the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Safina defeated Frenchwoman Amélie Mauresmo in the second round and Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. However, she was defeated for the third consecutive time by eventual runner-up Zvonareva in the semifinals. Safina rose to World No. 2 in the rankings.

At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Safina was seeded second but lost all three of her round robin matches, to Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Dementieva.

2009

File:Dinara Perth.jpg

Safina returning a shot against Flavia Pennetta during the Hopman Cup 2009 in Perth.

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(4), 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(3), 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.

Safina will compete as the top seed at the 2009 French Open.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2)

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2008	French Open	Ana Ivanović	6–4, 6–3
2009	Australian Open	Serena Williams	6–0, 6–3

Women's doubles (2)

Win

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

Runner-up

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

Career finals (29)

Singles (21)

Wins (11)

Legend: Before 2009 Legend: Starting in 2009 Grand Slam tournaments (0) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (3) Premier Mandatory (1) Tier II (2) Premier 5 (1) Tier III (2) Premier (0) Tier IV & V (2) International (0)

Titles by Surface Hard (4) Grass (0) Clay (6) Carpet (1)

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, 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
7.	July 27, 2008	Los Angeles, California, U.S.	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
10.	May 9, 2009	Rome, Italy	Clay	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–3, 6–2
11.	May 17, 2009	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Caroline Wozniacki	6–2, 6–4

Runner-ups (10)

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
8.	January 16, 2009	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Elena Dementieva	6–3, 2–6, 6–1
9.	January 30, 2009	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Serena Williams	6–0, 6–3
10.	May 3, 2009	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay (i)	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–4, 6–3

Doubles (8)

Wins (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]

Singles performance timeline

NM5				means an event that is neither a Premier Mandatory nor a Premier 5 tournament.

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament when the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, which ended April 5, 2009.

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	2R	3R	1R	F	0 / 7	12–7
French Open	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	QF	4R	F		0 / 6	14–6
Wimbledon	A	A	LQ	1R	1R	3R	3R	2R	3R		0 / 7	9–7
US Open	A	A	2R	4R	1R	1R	QF	4R	SF		0 / 7	16–7
SR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 27	N/A
Win-Loss	0–0	0–0	3–2	3–4	3–4	3–4	11–4	9–4	13–4	6–1	N/A	51–27
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR		0 / 1	0–3
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	1R	A	3R	QF	3R	3R	QF	0 / 6	9–6
Key Biscayne	A	A	A	2R	2R	2R	2R	4R	QF	3R	0 / 7	7–7
Madrid	Not Held									W	1 / 1	5–0
Beijing	Not Held				Not Tier I						0 / 0	0–0
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	Not Tier I									2R	0 / 1	0–1
Rome	A	A	A	2R	2R	A	F	QF	A	W	1 / 5	16–4
Cincinnati	Not Held				Not Tier I						0 / 0	0–0
Montréal / Toronto	A	A	A	A	A	2R	SF	3R	W		1 / 4	11–3
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W		1 / 1	4–0
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments (currently neither Premier Mandatory nor Premier 5 events)
Charleston	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	F	3R	NM5	0 / 3	7–3
Moscow	A	LQ	2R	2R	2R	SF	1R	SF	SF		0 / 8	12–8
Doha	Not Tier I								3R	Not Held	0 / 1	2–1
Berlin	A	A	A	2R	1R	2R	QF	QF	W		1 / 6	15–5
San Diego	Not Tier I				A	3R	1R	3R	Not Held		0 / 3	3–3
Zürich	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	Not Tier I		0 / 1	0–1
Career Statistics
Tournaments Won	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	1	4	2	N/A	11
Year End Ranking	None	394	68	54	44	20	11	16	3		N/A	N/A

External links

• Official website
• Dinara Safina at the Women's Tennis Association
• Dinara Safina at the Billie Jean King Cup