 Safina at the 2008 WTA Championships | |||||||||||||||
| Full name | Dinara Mubinovna Safina | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | Динара Мубиновна Сафина | ||||||||||||||
| Country (sports) |  Russia | ||||||||||||||
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1986-04-27)27 April 1986 (age 39) Moscow,Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2000 | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2014(last match 2011)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
| Prize money | $10,585,640 | ||||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 360–173 (67.5%) | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No.1 (20 April 2009) | ||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | F (2009) | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | F (2008,2009) | ||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | SF (2009) | ||||||||||||||
| US Open | SF (2008) | ||||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||
| Tour Finals | RR (2008,2009) | ||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | F (2008) | ||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||
| Career record | 181–91 | ||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 8 (12 May 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) | ||||||||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||||||||
| Fed Cup | W (2005,2008) | ||||||||||||||
| Hopman Cup | F (2009) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Dinara Mubinovna Safina (Russian:Динара Мубиновна Сафина,pronounced[dʲɪˈnarəˈsafʲɪnə]ⓘ;Tatar:Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина,romanized: Dinara Möbin kızı Safina; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professionaltennis player. She was ranked as theworld No. 1 in women's singles by theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina won twelveWTA Tour-level singles titles and nine in doubles, including the women's doubles title at the2007 US Open withNathalie Dechy. She was the runner-up at threemajor singles tournaments: the2008 French Open,2009 Australian Open, and2009 French Open, and won an Olympic silver medal in singles at the2008 Beijing Olympics.
Safina officially retired in 2014 due to a long-term back injury.[3] She is the younger sister of former world No. 1 men's playerMarat Safin; the brother–sister pair are the first to both achieve the No. 1 singles rankings.[4]
| External image | |
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 Young Dinara with her brother Marat and parents — Mubin and Rauza |
Safina was born in Moscow toTatar parents. Her motherRauza Islanova was her trainer when she was younger;[5][6] while her father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow.[1] Her brotherMarat is a former world No. 1 on theATP Tour. Speaking of growing up in such a successful tennis family, Safina stated: "Being the little sister in such a big tennis family is not an easy situation. Maybe that's why it took me longer to develop. My father is very competitive, but my parents didn't put pressure on me. I wanted to find my identity. I wanted to be something by myself, like being a big player by myself. So at the beginning I was putting too much pressure on myself. But then gradually I found myself, and I learned how to do better with that situation."[7] At age eight, Safina and her family moved toValencia, Spain, and as a result Safina speaks fluent Spanish as well as Russian and English.[8]
Safina was coached by Glen Schaap,[9] former coach ofAnna Chakvetadze andNadia Petrova,[10] andŽeljko Krajan, who worked with her during her rise to No. 1 in 2009.[7] From May 2010, she began working withGastón Etlis.[11] Their partnership ended after several months and in February 2011 she began working withDavide Sanguinetti.
Safina made her debut in the main draw of aWTA Tour tournament in May 2002, on clay atEstoril, where she lost in the semifinals.[12] She won her first title inSopot, defeating two seeds – including world No. 24Patty Schnyder – en route to the final, which she won when opponentHenrieta Nagyová retired during the second set.[13] In doing so, she became the youngest Tour champion in four years and the first qualifier to win a title in three years.[12] She entered the top 100 on theWTA rankings as a result of this win.[13] Later that year, Safina made her debut at a Grand Slam tournament, losing in the second round of theUS Open to top seed and eventual championSerena Williams.[14] In October atKremlin Cup, she defeated a top 20 player for the first time, world No. 14Silvia Farina Elia. She finished the season as world No. 68.[15][16]
Safina won her second title overKatarina Srebotnik atPalermo in July 2003.[17] She lost in the first round in her debuts at the Australian Open, French Open andWimbledon, although she reached the fourth round at theUS Open before losing to second seed and eventual championJustine Henin.[18] She also made the quarterfinals inDoha,[19] Sopot[20] and Shanghai.[21] She beat world No. 11Magdalena Maleeva in Moscow, her best win at that point.[22] She finished the season as world No. 54.[16][23]
At theAustralian Open, Safina defeated a seed at a major event for the first time, upsetting 27th seedAmanda Coetzer in the second round before losing to second seedKim Clijsters in the third round. However, she failed to make an impact at any of the other Grand Slam tournaments, losing in the second round of the French Open and the first round of bothWimbledon and theUS Open, although she pushed eventual runner-upElena Dementieva to three sets in the latter. She made the third final of her career and first off of clay in October atLuxembourg, losing toAlicia Molik.[24] She finished the season as world No. 44, her first time finishing in the world's top 50.[16]
Safina continued to climb the rankings in 2005. At the Australian Open, she lost in the second round toAmélie Mauresmo. However, she defeated Mauresmo in the final inParis three weeks later, in order to win the third title of her career.[25] This marked her first win over a player ranked in the top 5. Following her win, Safina remarked: "You can't imagine how happy I am. I can't find words to explain how I feel right now. It's by far the best day of my career. I played well, took my chances and beat a top 5 player. It's just too much in one day."[22]
Safina won her second title of 2005 in May atPrague, defeatingZuzana Ondrášková in the final.[26] However, she then lost in the first round of the French Open toVirginie Razzano. She won a match atWimbledon for the first time, eventually losing in the third round to top seedLindsay Davenport.
After losing in the first round of theUS Open toMaria Elena Camerin, Safina made three semifinals in the fall – inLuxembourg, the Tier IMoscow andHasselt. In Moscow, she defeated world No. 1Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, her first victory over a number one player.[27] She also played a key role in Russia's victory against France in theFed Cup, partnering Elena Dementieva to win the doubles rubber.[28] Speaking in 2008, Safina stated: "that was a great experience in my life [...] it also boosted my confidence because I showed I could play well even with the [French] crowd against me."[7] Safina finished the year ranked world No. 20, by far her highest finish.
Safina started 2006 by losing in the second round of the Australian Open toSofia Arvidsson. The highlight of the remainder of the spring hardcourt season was a run to the quarterfinals inIndian Wells, defeating fifth seedAnastasia Myskina before losing toMartina Hingis. On clay, Safina reached her first final at a Tier I tournament inRome, defeating top 10 players Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, andSvetlana Kuznetsova, before being defeated by Hingis.[29]
At the French Open, Safina made thequarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. In the fourth round, she defeated fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova.[30] In the third set, she trailed 1–5 and was down a match point but won after almost 2½ hours of play. She went on to lose to Kuznetsova in the next round.[31] To kick off the grass court season, she reached her first grass court final at's-Hertogenbosch, losing toMichaëlla Krajicek.[32] She then lost in the third round ofWimbledon, losing toAna Ivanovic.
The highlight of Safina's summer hardcourt season was a run to the semifinals of the Tier IMontreal, before ultimately losing to Ana Ivanovic. During theUS Open, she again reached aGrand Slam quarterfinal, this time losing to top seedAmélie Mauresmo. She met with greater success in doubles, where she reached the final with partner Katarina Srebotnik. Safina reached the top ten on the singles rankings for the first time in the fall. She finished the season world No. 11.[16]
Safina won her first tournament of 2007 inGold Coast, defeating Martina Hingis in the final. Following the match, Hingis praised Safina, saying that "everyone should watch her because she's gonna be maybe even better than her brother", and that she has "more will and desire" than Safin.[33] She also won the doubles title at the tournament. She then lost in the third round of theAustralian Open toLi Na.[34]
Safina reached her second final of the year at the Tier ICharleston in April, after retirements fromTatiana Golovin and Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.[35] In the final, she lost toJelena Janković. After reaching the quarterfinals at bothBerlin andRome, Safina lost to Serena Williams in the fourth round of theFrench Open. During May, she moved up to world No. 9, the highest ranking of her career at the time.[16]
On grass, Safina lost in three sets to Janković in the semifinal of's-Hertogenbosch, having had a match point in the tiebreaker. Following that loss, she was upset byAkiko Morigami in the second round ofWimbledon.
Safina lost in the fourth round of theUS Open to world No. 1 and eventual champion Justine Henin.[36] At the tournament, she partneredNathalie Dechy to win the women's doubles title, her first Grand Slam title.[37] In October, Safina achieved only her second win over a player ranked in the top 10 that season, defeating world No. 6Anna Chakvetadze en route to the semifinals ofMoscow. She finished the season as world No. 16.[16]
Safina started 2008 poorly, winning just 11 of her first 21 matches. Her best result in singles play during this period was a run to the quarterfinals ofMiami, defeatingLindsay Davenport in the fourth round. Safina has admitted that she was considering quitting tennis during this period.[38] Meanwhile, she won doubles titles inGold Coast, partneringÁgnes Szávay; and inIndian Wells, partneringElena Vesnina.
In May, at the clay-court event inBerlin, Safina defeated world No. 1 Justine Henin in the third round. Safina went on to defeat Serena Williams for the first time in the quarterfinals, ending Williams's 17-match winning streak. She then defeated Elena Dementieva in the final to win the first Tier I title of her career. Safina retrospectively called the tournament "the key to her tennis life".[39] As the 13th seed at theFrench Open, Safina defeated new world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, having saved a match point.[40] In the quarterfinals, Safina defeated Dementieva, after saving match points again.[41] Then, in her first Grand Slam semifinal, Safina defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova,[42] before losing to Ana Ivanovic in the final.[43] Her results at this tournament caused her ranking to rise to world No. 9.[16]
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On grass, Safina lost in the final of 's-Hertogenbosch toTamarine Tanasugarn.[44] AtWimbledon, Safina lost in the third round to IsraeliShahar Pe'er.[45]
AtLos Angeles in July, Safina defeated top-seeded Jelena Janković in the semifinals before claiming her second title of the year by defeatingFlavia Pennetta in the final.[46] The following week, Safina won the Tier IMontreal, defeatingDominika Cibulková in the final. This marked the first time in her career that she had won titles at back-to-back tournaments,[47] and it moved her up to world No. 6, her highest career ranking at the time. She also won theUS Open Series as a result of this victory.[48]
Representing Russia at theBeijing Olympics, Safina defeated world No. 1 Jelena Janković in the quarterfinals in three sets, making her the first player in the history of the WTA Tour to defeat three different reigning World No. 1 players in the same year.[48] In the semifinals, she defeatedLi Na in straight sets. In the gold medal match, Safina lost to Dementieva in three sets while serving 23 double faults.[49] She went into theUS Open as one of five women who could have taken the world No. 1 ranking, depending on their results in this tournament. However, she lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion Serena Williams. After this tournament, her ranking rose to a career high of world No. 5.[16]
Safina won her third Tier I title of the year and fourth title overall inTokyo in September, defeating Kuznetsova in the final.[50] This win moved her ranking to a new career-high of world No. 3, before later briefly becoming the No. 2 in October. She qualified for the year-endingWTA Championships for the first time in her career, but she lost all three of her round robin matches. She finished the year ranked No. 3, the first time she had finished a year in the world's top 10.[16]
Safina began 2009 by representing Russia with her brotherMarat Safin in theHopman Cup. They lost to the Slovakian team in the final.[51]
Safina played her first WTA Tour tournament of the season inSydney, where she lost in the final to Elena Dementieva.[52] At theAustralian Open, Safina defeatedAlizé Cornet in the fourth round.[53] Safina defeated the Australian wild-card entryJelena Dokić in the quarterfinals and Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals to reach the second Grand Slam final of her career.[54] She lost to Serena Williams in the final in 59 minutes.[55] After losing early in Dubai to Virginie Razzano,[56] Safina went on to the Indian Wells tournament, where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka.[57] In Miami, Safina lost in the third round toSamantha Stosur.[58]
On April 20, Safina became the 19th player, and second Russian after Maria Sharapova, to be ranked world No. 1 by the WTA.[59] 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 theATP earlier in his career.[4]
Safina started the clay season with fresh determination to win a Grand Slam.[60] Playing in her first tournament as the world No. 1, Safina lost in the final of the indoor clay court event inStuttgart to Svetlana Kuznetsova.[61] The following week inRome, Safina defeatedVenus Williams in the semifinals,[62] and Kuznetsova in the final.[63] Safina then advanced to the final at theMadrid event, where she defeated Caroline Wozniacki to win her second consecutive title.[64] As the top seed[65] at theFrench Open, Safina dropped only five games in advancing to the quarterfinals.[66] She eventually advanced to her third Grand Slam final and second straight French Open final,[67] where she lost to Kuznetsova in straight sets.[68][69]
At Wimbledon, Safina advanced to the fourth round for the first time, where she defeated 2006 champion Amélie Mauresmo.[70] She went on to reach the semifinals before losing to Venus Williams.[71] She lost 1–6, 0–6 which is the biggest defeat for a current number one in WTA Tour history.[72] Her performance invoked criticism about her status as the No. 1 player in particular from the newWimbledon champion and world No. 2, Serena Williams who openly mocked her credibility as the top player.[73][74]
After winning a small tournament in Portorož,[75] Safina failed to defend her title in Los Angeles.[76] Despite this, she became the first player to qualify for the WTA Tour Championships.[77] The following week inCincinnati, Safina advanced to her eighth final of the season,[78] losing to former world No. 1 Jelena Janković.[79] Safina was the top seed at theUS Open, but lost in the third round toPetra Kvitová.[80]
Following back-to-back second round losses in Tokyo andBeijing, Safina lost the No. 1 rank to Serena Williams. She regained it two weeks later on October 26.[81] At the WTA Championships, she had a chance to end the season as No. 1 for the first time in her career, but retired due to a back injury in her first round robin match, which she claimed had been bothering her for three months.[82]
Safina started 2010 by losing in the quarterfinals to Elena Dementieva inSydney.[83] At theAustralian Open, she reached the fourth round where she retired with a back injury[84] which also forced her to withdraw from tournaments inDubai,Indian Wells, andMiami.[48]
In her return to competitive tennis for the clay season, Safina lost in the quarterfinals ofStuttgart to Shahar Pe'er. She struggled through the rest of the clay season, losing her opening matches inRome,Madrid[85] and theFrench Open, causing her ranking to drop to No. 20. She later withdrew fromWimbledon after being dealt her fifth straight loss at a warm-up tournament in's-Hertogenbosch.
She began the US Open Series at theBank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, where Safina was given a wildcard. She played veteranKimiko Date-Krumm in the first round. Safina lost in three sets.
In the first round of theMercury Insurance Open in San Diego, California, Safina ended her 6 match losing streak when she defeatedAlona Bondarenko in the first round. She then lost toAgnieszka Radwańska in the second round.
Safina's next tournament was at theWestern & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open in Cincinnati. In the second round, she lost to Kim Clijsters. Due to her inability to defend her points from 2009, she dropped from world No. 35 to No. 70.At theRogers Cup she scored wins over world No. 36 Andrea Petkovic and No. 21 Nadia Petrova to reach the third round, where she lost to sixth seedFrancesca Schiavone. Safina defeated Schiavone in the first round of thePilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, but lost to Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals. At theUS Open, Safina was eliminated in the first round by Daniela Hantuchová.
Safina accepted a wild card from theHansol Korea Open, where she defeated qualifierSimona Halep in the first round. She also won against Maria Kirilenko in straight sets. She lost toKlára Zakopalová in the quarterfinals. Safina was unseeded coming into the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she facedJulia Görges of Germany in the first round, but lost in three sets. At the China Open, Safina lost to Vera Zvonareva in the first round.
At theASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Safina was defeated by No.2 seedYanina Wickmayer in the first round.[86] In theHobart International, facing Marion Bartoli in the first round, she lost again in two sets.[87] At theAustralian Open, she was defeated by eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the first round with adouble bagel.[88]
At theMalaysian Open, Dinara was able to end her six-match losing streak with her first win since September 2010, defeatingHan Xinyun. Then she lost against Šafářová. Safina next competed atBNP Paribas Open, where she reached the fourth round, including wins over 26th seed Daniela Hantuchová and world No. 4 Samantha Stosur. Her run came to an end against Maria Sharapova in the fourth round. Safina announced she would not compete for the rest of 2011 because of a persistent back injury (stress fracture).[89]
Safina allegedly retired from professional tennis, as announced by her brother Marat Safin, on October 7, 2011: "Dinara has decided to end her career", Safin said. "She has taken the decision relatively well. She considers it just to be the end of a period in her life." Safin said the main reason for his 25-year-old sister's retirement was a chronic back injury. "Everything is all right with her health. She feels good in everyday life, but (the back injury means) she simply can't play tennis professionally any more."[90] However, Dinara Safina herself later that day issued aTwitter message, where she said she had not made any retirement decision yet, and that she needed more time to decide.[91]
Dinara announced on June 12, 2012, that she requested wildcards for the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, the Montreal Open, the Cincinnati Open and the US Open. In a later interview, she announced that she withdrew the requests for wildcard entries for all tournaments for 2012. In late 2012, Safina was linked to doping doctor Luis Garcia del Moral.[92]
In 2014, Safina officially retired from tennis after the final day ofMadrid Open following years of injuries.[2]
Safina and fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova met 14 times, with Safina leading their head-to-head 8–6. Kuznetsova led their rivalry on clay courts but trailed their rivalry on hard courts. The pair never met on grass. Their last meeting was in the final of the2009 French Open, with Kuznetsova winning in straight sets and reversing a semi-final loss to Safina fromtwelve months earlier.[93][94]
Safina and Dementieva have been playing each other since 2003, four times on clay, five times on hard and one on grass and carpet, their series ended 6–5 in Dementieva's favour. Their most significant meeting was at the final of the 2008 Summer Olympics which Dementieva won in three sets and a gold medal for Russia. When they met at the 2008 French Open quarterfinals, Safina was down a set and was down 2–5 after saving match point. She then went on to win the match with a score of 4–6, 7–6, 6–0.
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | W–L | W% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | F | 4R | 1R | 15–9 | 63% |
| French Open | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | 4R | F | F | 1R | A | 20–8 | 71% |
| Wimbledon | Q3 | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | SF | A | A | 12–7 | 63% |
| US Open | 2R | 4R | 1R | 1R | QF | 4R | SF | 3R | 1R | A | 18–9 | 67% |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 11–4 | 9–4 | 13–4 | 19–4 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 65–33 | 66% |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | QF | 2R | 3R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 6–5 |
| French Open | A | 2R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R | A | 2R | A | 9–6 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 3R | A | 1R | 3R | A | A | A | 4–3 |
| US Open | A | 1R | 1R | F | W | A | A | A | A | 11–3 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 1–2 | 6–4 | 8–3 | 10–3 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 30–17 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2008 | French Open | Clay |  Ana Ivanovic | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2009 | Australian Open | Hard |  Serena Williams | 0–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2009 | French Open | Clay | Svetlana Kuznetsova | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2006 | US Open | Hard |  Katarina Srebotnik |  Nathalie DechyVera Zvonareva | 6–7, 5–7 |
| Win | 2007 | US Open | Hard | Nathalie Dechy |  Chan Yung-janChuang Chia-jung | 6–4, 6–2 |
Dinara Safina (Achievement predecessor & successor) | ||||||||||||||||
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