Dinara Safina Makes Her Mark as Russians Continue to Dominate Tennis
Published by Paula Vergara on Dec 12, 2007 | Print |
The following article on Dinara Safina is by journalist Paula Vergara. This post is part of On the Baseline Tennis News’ 2008 Players to Watch Series.
January is the time when the tennis slate is wiped clean to make room for a brand new season. With 2008 just weeks away, the usual onslaught of player predictions have started pouring in.
There’s no better way to take a stab at picking future winners than taking a look back at past performance.
But, as we know, tennis can often be as fickle as the stock market.
For some players, 2007 was a year plagued by ups and downs, while others spent the year battling chronic injuries more often than their opponents.
For Dinara Safina, the 21 year old Russian and younger sister of former No. 1 player Marat Safin, 2007 turned out to be a confidence builder as well as her breakout year in doubles.
She kicked off 2007 winning her fifth career singles title at the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts on the Gold Coast. Her sixth career doubles title also came at the Gold Coast
(with Srebotnik). Safina was the only player in 2007 to sweep both singles and doubles at the same event.
One of Safina’s goals for 2007 was to play more tournaments as a confidence builder. The Pilot Pen was on the top of her list, making it to the quarterfinals.
Despite her success, Safina cautioned, “It doesn’t matter who I’m going to play—just when you think this is going to be easy, it’s a tough match.” The greatest boost to her confidence came just a few weeks later at the US Open, where she won her first grand slam title in doubles with a brand new doubles partner, Nathalie Dechy.
After her US Open victory, Safina reflected on her performance. “I think this year I proved that, okay, I didn’t say that I have to beat Justine, but at least to maybe show more from my part. Okay, like now in doubles, I’m going to concentrate. I think that showed.”
In October, Safina continued her concentration and momentum into the Kremlin Cup by making it through to the semis, ultimately losing to fellow Russian, Elena Dementieva, who went on to win the tournament.
Since the US Open, Safina has been coached by Heinz Guenthardt, former coach of Steffi Graf, and she still takes pointers from her mother, Raouza, who often travels with her to tournaments.
As she heads into 2008, Safina holds the No. 15 spot in singles and No. 14 in doubles. Overall, Safina has completed her third consecutive season in the top 20. Earlier in the summer, she cracked the top 10 briefly, holding onto the No. 9 spot.
Safina is a powerful player with plenty of room to grow her game. Her singles record of 43-22 and doubles record of 28-10 makes her a dual threat.
Whether her success comes from singles or doubles, her game is definitely on the upswing.
Paula Vergara is a freelance journalist based in Boston. She is a feature writer for USTA New England and has also written for New England Sports Magazine and The Boston Globe. To view her published work, visit paula-vergara.blogspot.com.
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Jen Whittier | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for the good article, but I see Safina a bit differently. Her current #15 ranking represents her third consecutive year finishing between #11 and #20. Why is a singles breakout likely at this point? Dinara turns 22 in April. After her nice win in her first tournament of 2008, she reached but one other final. On the other hand, her U.S. Open doubles crown — and six-foot height — suggests excellent promise in that area. Thanks again.
John Byron | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
Great article! It will be interesting to track the progress of her career..I wonder if she has what it takes to get to the top 3 someday…
Kurt | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
Interesting article. However, I agree with Jen when assessing Safina. She started the year off great, but just sort of lost her way. Like her brother, she’s so fragile mentally that she gets in her own way, and she doesn’t really have a monstrous weapon. She’ll have great days, but she seems to have more bad ones. Doubles is great for her because there’s someone else there to talk out her frustrations, to help her refocus. I think that’s the area where she’ll excel the most.
PaulaV | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for the feedback! I do agree that doubles is Safina’s strength, but I am hopeful that she will be able to overcome her mental challenges to take her game to the next level. I know that she had suffered from medical fatigue syndrome in 2006. This must be something that she has to be constantly aware of, in terms of getting proper rest and following a healthy diet.
Aaress | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
PaulaV,
Thanks for writing a great article - it is always a pleasure to read your work.
Good mention of Dinara’s illness, which as I recall, affected her quite a bit last year. Unfortunately, like you said, this is something that she may have to live the rest of her life with, but judging from her results at the end of 2007, she still has a bright future on the Tour.
Kurt, I agree that Safina does struggle with her head game, but I don’t believe she’s quite as bad as Marat! However, to borrow a term from Mary Joe Fernandez, she is a pretty “streaky” player.
If she can bring some consistency to her performance and work on crafting a solid weapon to help her battle the likes of Justine, Maria, Venus, Serena, and Co., I think she has a shot at returning to the top 10 in 2008.
I’m not convinced she’s top 5 material, but she does have the potential to give quite a few women fits, especially on clay.