Dinara Safina Defeats Martina Hingis in Mondial Hardcourts Final
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jan 5, 2007 | Print | Email | Bookmark
Her three-set 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Martina Hingis did not come easy, but Dinara Safina has been crowned champion of the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia.
If Dinara Safina continues to play this well throughout the rest of the 2007 season, she may not have to worry about being known as Marat’s little sister anymore.
Throughout much of her time on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Dinara has been under the shadow of her grand slam champion brother. It was not until last season that Safina finally started to evolve into a succesful contender in her own right.
Now, with her debut in the top ten just months ago, Dinara Safina has started 2007 with her fifth career title.
Hingis’ loss today only increases my rising suspicion that at her game’s current state, she is only successful to the point of facing players that cannot overpower and outmanuever her on court.
Moments of brilliance reminscent of her old form were present today against Safina, but instead of relying on her tried-and-true ways of winning, she allowed herself to be placed on the offensive. Safina kept her pinned behind the baseline for much of the match, and instead of Hingis working the angles to keep Dinara on the run, she found herself doing most of the running.
Thankfully, she has one more week to step up her game before heading into Melbourne, but the field at the Medibank International will be much tougher than her past week at Gold Coast.
Vicki | Jan 5, 2007 | Reply
I saw the gold coast final and I totally agree with you. Lindsay is not the only power player that can beat Martina and now that’s the way of tour Martina may now find it hard to not only win tournaments but to win another slam.
Aaress | Jan 6, 2007 | Reply
You’re right Vicki.
If Martina cannot pull together a win at a Tier III tournament, she may wind up kissing that sixth Grand Slam title goodbye.