Both Dinara Safina and Serena Williams easily advanced to the next round at the 2009 China Open after winning in straight sets earlier today.  The first round also allowed other seeded players including Russians Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva to move on.

Safina took on Roberta Vinci and ended up taking a 6-4, 6-4 victory while Williams beat Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-4.
Williams will next face unseeded Ekaterina Makarova with Safina battling local favorite, Shuai Zhang.  The first round will conclude tomorrow while the second round begins.
Third-seeded Venus Williams is expected to play in the second round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The …read more

It was a day of upsets among the female tennis players at the 2009 Tokyo Open .  All kinds of top-seeded players were eliminated opening the way for up-and-comers to steal the spotlight.
While Maria Sharapova, who went into the event unseeded, managed to make it to the next round, big names like top-seeded defending champion Dinara Safina, second-seeded Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova were sent packing.

Safina lost her match against qualifier Kai-Chen Chang (pictured celebrating above) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5 which lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes.  Wow!
Meanwhile, Williams couldn’t get past yet another qualifier, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and lost 7-6 …read more

It was a tough day for Dinara Safina in Toronto.  Her serve betrayed her from the very start and she just could not seem to pull herself together.  Unfortunately, it cost her the chance of winning the Rogers Cup title.
Safina was eliminated by Aravane Rezai after committing 17 double faults.  She lost with a final score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.  The Rogers Cup has been interesting for the top-seeded players this year since Venus Williams was eliminated yesterday by Kateryna Bondarenko but, also, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were both knocked out when they played in Montreal last week (okay, …read more

Venus Williams made her Cincinnati Open debut and was predictably brilliant despite the fact that the evening’s only single match was delayed by 90 minutes because of rain earlier in the schedule.  She faced off against qualifier, Olga Govortsova, and the third-seeded Williams easily won 6-2, 6-2.
Things weren’t as smooth for top-seeded Dinara Safina who seemed to struggle to get control over her game early in the match against unseeded Roberta Vinci.  I don’t know if this had anything to do with the cut to the left hand that Safina suffered opening a coconut last week in Los Angeles but …read more

It will be a one-two finish for the Williams sisters as Venus Williams and Serena Williams square off in the ladies final at Wimbledon for the fourth time on Saturday.  It feels like a repeat of last years finals.  Venus won 7-5, 6-4 so I’m wondering if kid sister, Serena, will top her this year.

Venus took down Dinara Safina in a predictable semifinal match. Venus Williams has won 35 straight sets for an incredible record – she hasn’t lost on Centre Court since 2004.  That’s unbelievable!  Meanwhile, 23-year-old Safina incurred 16 unforced errors in the lopsided 6-1, 6-0 loss. At …read more

The four top-seeded women have made the semifinals at Wimbledon which will feature a Russian versus an American player in both matches.
Despite her dislike for playing on the grass, top-ranked Russian, Dinara Safina, beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court which marks the first time she has advanced to the Wimbledon semifinal.

Safina was the runner-up at the French Open and the Australian Open and she played like a true champion on the hot day in London, although she did lose her cool at one point –she slammed her racquet down after committing her seventh double-fault.  Still, …read more

Svetlana Kuznetsova was many things as she went into the 2009 French Open finals this morning but, most importantly, she was calm and determined.  Having only won a single Grand Slam title before, I’m sure she was nervous but she never let it show.
Instead, she beat a shaky-looking Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 Saturday and won the French Open.  You would have thought that Safina was the underdog by the way she played – she double-faulted seven times and seemed to struggle through the match.
While Safina faltered (and eventually slammed her racket down on the court), Kuznetsova soared and played …read more

The women’s semifinals are over and, on Saturday, top-ranked Dinara Safina will face off against seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2009 French Open final which will take place on Saturday at Roland Garros.

Safina defeated 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova yesterday 6-3, 6-3.  This is the second consecutive time that she has made it to the French Open final but, if she is victorious on Saturday, it would be her first Grand Slam title since she lost last year to Ana Ivanovic in last year’s tournament.
Meanwhile, Kuznetsova had to really fight for her win, beating 30th-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 .  …read more

The world’s number one female tennis player and the top seed, Dinara Safina, continues to make her presence known at the 2009 French Open.  In yesterday’s match against Aravane Rezai, she was able to complete a straight-set rout in 6-1, 6-0 and did it in just 53 minutes.

The Russian star said “I take one point at a time.  I don’t waste my energy. Every point is important. No free points. No stupid mistakes. Just point by point I’m playing.”
Unfortunately, fans will not get to see the much-anticipated rematch between Safina and defending champion Ana Ivanovic since she was eliminated by …read more

No. 1 ranked Dinara Safina has won the final at the Madrid Open against rising Danish teen sensation Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4. She has definitely proven that she is a serious contender at the French Open, which gets underway in a week.

Since becoming number one over Serena Williams on April 14th, she has posted a 14-1 record and was very dominate at Madrid.
"I was getting a bit tired by the end," said Safina. "But I dominated at the crucial times. I was very dominant in the first set.
"In the second I had a chance at a double-break."
 

Dinara has now …read more