Post by hellanvodka on Jun 3, 2008 8:13:18 GMT 3
The ¡°other Russian¡± comes out of her brother¡¯s shadow
Monday, June 2, 2008
By Drew Lilley
More accustomed to being described as ¡°Marat¡¯s little sister¡± or ¡°one of a host of good Russians¡±, Dinara Safina outlasted No1 seed Maria Sharapova in the match of the women¡¯s tournament so far to win 6-7 7-6 6-2.
The No1 seed came into the game with an incredible 30-2 won-lost record this season, winning the Australian Open as well as Doha and, more importantly in terms of Roland Garros, on clay at Amelia Island. Since arriving in Paris, however, she had returned to her self-confessed ¡°cow on ice¡± routine on the red brick surface, losing sets to Evgeniya Rodina and Bethanie Mattek and only finding her rhythm in the second set against third-round opponent Karin Knapp.
Safina meanwhile came into the French Open peaking at the right time, collecting her first Tier I tournament win at Berlin ¨C also on clay ¨C and was one of the fancied outsiders for the tournament, particularly after strolling through the first week without dropping a set.
The devil was in the detail in the first set between two evenly matched players. Neither served brilliantly (Sharapova managing two-thirds of her first services, Safina only half) and it was a question of which player would crack first. Most games went to a handful of deuces and when Safina finally broke to lead 4-3, she handed the initiative straight back in the following game.
To a tie-break it went and the thirteenth game was a mini-version of the entire set. Dinara mini-broke, Maria mini-broke back but Safina pulled away to lead 6-4. Maria then woke up to the reality that was staring her in the face and suddenly went on the attack, pushing her opponent back deeper and deeper both on service and return. She saved the two set points, carved out one of her own and that proved to be enough as a desperate lob from Safina just failed to clip the line.
Safina broke to open the second set but then an hour-long rain break sent the ladies back to the changing-rooms. Once they came back out, Safina looked to cement her break and indeed held her opening service but it turned out to be a mirage as Sharapova increased her intensity by just enough to throw her fellow Russian off her rhythm. Sharapova broke back to make it 2-2 and for the next few games, Safina seemed to be a step too slow, her concentration shot.
At 5-2 Sharapova had a match point, but this was when as if by magic, Dinara finally found her rhythm again. All of a sudden, it was one-way traffic. Dinara attacked, Maria defended as best she could but there was no living with the No13 seed¡¯s powerful and accurate forehands. Maria threw everything she had into the second set tie-break and led 5-2 before Dinara got a lucky net cord and then, with nothing to lose and two points from elimination, she charged back and went for every shot. Four points later we were into a deciding set.
Again there were breaks and re-breaks in the first four games before Safina stepped on the accelerator and once she was in the zone, there was no catching her. She attacked relentlessly, and while Sharapova¡¯s defence was excellent, even she could not return absolutely every shot that the Moscow native threw at her. The No1 seed began to lose her cool, screaming at herself after blowing two makeable shots in game six which turned out to be the clincher. Another weak Maria forehand ended up in the net to hand Dinara the break and that was that, the No13 seed serving and breaking again to clinch the final set at a canter against her demoralized opponent.
Safina's reward is a tie against another Russian ¨C 2004 Roland Garros finalist Elena Dementieva who overcame yet another of the blue, white and red brigade Vera Zvonareva in three sets this morning. For Sharapova meanwhile, the self-styled ¡°cow on ice¡± can at least go out to pasture and graze on the lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club where she won her first ever Grand Slam in 2004.
Monday, June 2, 2008
By Drew Lilley
More accustomed to being described as ¡°Marat¡¯s little sister¡± or ¡°one of a host of good Russians¡±, Dinara Safina outlasted No1 seed Maria Sharapova in the match of the women¡¯s tournament so far to win 6-7 7-6 6-2.
The No1 seed came into the game with an incredible 30-2 won-lost record this season, winning the Australian Open as well as Doha and, more importantly in terms of Roland Garros, on clay at Amelia Island. Since arriving in Paris, however, she had returned to her self-confessed ¡°cow on ice¡± routine on the red brick surface, losing sets to Evgeniya Rodina and Bethanie Mattek and only finding her rhythm in the second set against third-round opponent Karin Knapp.
Safina meanwhile came into the French Open peaking at the right time, collecting her first Tier I tournament win at Berlin ¨C also on clay ¨C and was one of the fancied outsiders for the tournament, particularly after strolling through the first week without dropping a set.
The devil was in the detail in the first set between two evenly matched players. Neither served brilliantly (Sharapova managing two-thirds of her first services, Safina only half) and it was a question of which player would crack first. Most games went to a handful of deuces and when Safina finally broke to lead 4-3, she handed the initiative straight back in the following game.
To a tie-break it went and the thirteenth game was a mini-version of the entire set. Dinara mini-broke, Maria mini-broke back but Safina pulled away to lead 6-4. Maria then woke up to the reality that was staring her in the face and suddenly went on the attack, pushing her opponent back deeper and deeper both on service and return. She saved the two set points, carved out one of her own and that proved to be enough as a desperate lob from Safina just failed to clip the line.
Safina broke to open the second set but then an hour-long rain break sent the ladies back to the changing-rooms. Once they came back out, Safina looked to cement her break and indeed held her opening service but it turned out to be a mirage as Sharapova increased her intensity by just enough to throw her fellow Russian off her rhythm. Sharapova broke back to make it 2-2 and for the next few games, Safina seemed to be a step too slow, her concentration shot.
At 5-2 Sharapova had a match point, but this was when as if by magic, Dinara finally found her rhythm again. All of a sudden, it was one-way traffic. Dinara attacked, Maria defended as best she could but there was no living with the No13 seed¡¯s powerful and accurate forehands. Maria threw everything she had into the second set tie-break and led 5-2 before Dinara got a lucky net cord and then, with nothing to lose and two points from elimination, she charged back and went for every shot. Four points later we were into a deciding set.
Again there were breaks and re-breaks in the first four games before Safina stepped on the accelerator and once she was in the zone, there was no catching her. She attacked relentlessly, and while Sharapova¡¯s defence was excellent, even she could not return absolutely every shot that the Moscow native threw at her. The No1 seed began to lose her cool, screaming at herself after blowing two makeable shots in game six which turned out to be the clincher. Another weak Maria forehand ended up in the net to hand Dinara the break and that was that, the No13 seed serving and breaking again to clinch the final set at a canter against her demoralized opponent.
Safina's reward is a tie against another Russian ¨C 2004 Roland Garros finalist Elena Dementieva who overcame yet another of the blue, white and red brigade Vera Zvonareva in three sets this morning. For Sharapova meanwhile, the self-styled ¡°cow on ice¡± can at least go out to pasture and graze on the lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club where she won her first ever Grand Slam in 2004.
