Dinara News Thread

[Anne]

;D ;D ;D Woow! ! Yet another splendid win for Dinara! Way to go girl! Beat Kuzzie please...

And yes indeed , inspire your brother:)!

Interview with Dinara after her match:

Q. When you had that match point in the second set against you, did you think of the match against Maria Sharapova, also?

DINARA SAFINA: No, not really. It wasn't in my mind. I just kept on playing my ‑‑ I don't know. I mean, in this case, I can say she gave me a free point on the match point.

She made a mistake, and then I just said, Okay, I'm going to stay in the match and just keep on playing, keep on fighting, just do what I can do today.


Q. How does it feel playing two matches in a row and being a set down and 5‑2 down and then a match point at 5‑3 and then winning?

DINARA SAFINA: It's not really that it's ‑‑ you're looking for this when stepping in the court. It's not easy to come back every time, because once it's going to be too late. But I guess how it's goes now, these matches.

I was playing okay first set. Second set, few points she was a little bit maybe lucky in important moments. Like I would miss for a little bit, and she would hit somewhere like close to the line. She was playing good, so I was just, Okay, I have to hang in there and just do something more, and then I just changed completely.


Q. It seems like against Sharapova, and then in this match, you really didn't even start attacking as much as you can until 5‑2, until your back was really against the wall, and then you started to push harder.

DINARA SAFINA: Would I not say that today I was attacking. I changed completely with Maria, and opposite, I was starting to be aggressive.

Today I just became ‑‑ I said, Okay, I'm going to just play soft to you, and I want you to make a point. Because once I was doing something ‑‑ I don't know, she was pretty confident today on the baseline. I just had to play soft to her and wait really for opportunity that I could punish her, and that's how I start to play from 5‑2.

It's not really my game to play like this, but sometimes that's how it goes for to win a match.


Q. You must be really confident in your fitness that you can play two long matches and say, Okay, I'll be the retriever. I'll play defense, because I know my body will be strong enough at the end.

DINARA SAFINA: Well, of course, I mean, I've been working really hard on my fitness. It's kind of, not advantage, but I just feel like if I need to do something else I will be able to do it with the physical.

Because I know like, Okay, today I have to run. What? So that's how it goes. So I just ‑‑ but it's nice to have that inside that you're able to change the game. And the physical, still I can play.


Q. Was there a point in the match against Sharapova and today that you thought, Well, it's over. I'm just going to grab my bags and leave Paris?

DINARA SAFINA: What do you mean?


Q. Because when you are 5‑2 behind in both games, I can imagine that through your mind you must be thinking, Well, maybe it's over. Obviously you don't think that.

DINARA SAFINA: No, I didn't thought that. It's 52. Maybe when she had on my serve match point, then it was like disappointing for me, like, because I been against her 2‑Love up on my game and it's match point, and then I was a little bit like sad.

But suddenly out of there she started to just like ‑‑ she got a little bit too tight, and I started, Okay, as you are tight, so I'm going to just make you play. That's how I won today.


Q. Do you view this as a big personal breakthrough for yourself and a big semifinal? You haven't always been able to follow up big victories in the past with another one in Slams, so...

DINARA SAFINA: Yeah, I think it's the, yeah, first time in the semifinal, so you can say that it's a breakthrough. I hope just keep on going.


Q. Obviously with match points, very close matches, what's your difference from your tennis this year from other Grand Slams in the past?

DINARA SAFINA: I would say this year, in the beginning of the year, I had so many really disappointing loses. If you check, I had first tournament of the year losing match with five match points.

Second match of the year ‑‑ not second, match, second tournament of the year ‑‑ being set, 4‑2 up, still didn't close the match. Then playing there, being ‑‑ like in Israel, I've been up the whole time and I lost still the match.

Then you play there, you're 40‑Love, and you still lose the set. I just ‑‑ there was really like so many really disappointing loses. And it's just, I guess, that I still hang in there and I still was day by day stepping on the court, and said, Okay, if I lost, how I'm going to work harder?

I guess it's just paying off, everything. Just my patience and the hard work that I been putting in day by day.


Q. Did you ever feel today like living the movie Groundhog Day? You lived the same day again because it was so similar to Sharapova's match. At a changeover, you thought, Okay, I'm coming back again.

DINARA SAFINA: Of course, you know, once you went through this you always believe, Why not the second time? So inside, kind of, Okay. Still the match is not over. 5‑2, okay, she was double break up.

But I still felt like I will still ‑‑ I still have to hang in there just to do something more.


Q. With the three Berlin matches you came back there, as well, Henin down 7‑5, 2‑0; Serena down a set; Dementieva, down a set. Something has changed from the past. You've won five big matches coming back from a set down. What do you think has changed? Your head, mental, or physical more?

DINARA SAFINA: I would say physical more, because before it would be ‑‑ when I would play with the top players I would lose a set, and for me it would be ‑‑ I'm both ‑‑ mental and physically tough to still come back.

And now I'm kind of physically like, I feel like it's ‑‑ if I still have to play two sets, one hour each, I still able to do this. So it's kind of like it's a ‑‑ if you know physically you can do this, mentally it's also easier, because you still feel like, I still have to do something more.

It's not like you lose a set. Oh, I still have to play two sets. But now it's like, Okay, I still have to do this, this, this, this, so I think it's physically.


Q. Have you always believed that your time would come at a Grand Slam?

DINARA SAFINA: Believe? If I would not believe I would not keep on playing. That's why I'm still playing, because I believe that I could play better than I was before.

Something was always disturbing ‑‑ not disturbing me, but missing. Either this was physically missing, and then it was mentally missing.

It was just a matter of like just put everything together: Physically I'm strong, mentally that I can control my emotions, and I still think still that I have much more things to work on and to improve, and that's why.


Q. Can you just talk a little bit about the importance that your mother plays in your career now?

DINARA SAFINA: I wouldn't say she just comes to support. Nothing. She just my mother. I have a coach.


Q. Was your brother, Marat, watching the match today?

DINARA SAFINA: No.


Q. So he didn't send you any text message?

DINARA SAFINA: He did send me a message.


Q. Can we know what he said?

DINARA SAFINA: Simple: Well done.


Q. What can you tell us about your memories about Marat's Grand Slam semifinals?

DINARA SAFINA: Match against Roger in Australia. That was I think ‑‑ really, if I would still watch it either I would cry then, because it was just an amazing match and beautiful to watch.

It was funny, because that day we had to leave to Monaco. We had been in Moscow, and we had to finish the match watching it in the airport. It was in Moscow, so all the airport then was watching this match. It was really nice.


Q. Are you the one who gave to adidas these words, "impossible is nothing"?

DINARA SAFINA: Oh, you mean my ‑‑ I guess I can ‑‑ now I can really say this loud, Impossible is nothing. Not me, but somebody else. But it's true.


Q. You are in much better shape I'm sure, but in the tiebreaker you looked very tired after some of those long points. How physically demanding was it, and how tired were you?

DINARA SAFINA: I think she was also tired. If she would be a little bit fresher she could take me there, because there were like 3‑Love up for me, and then the game before, also on a set point, it was such a long rally. Then I just gave two free points. I just could not breathe anymore. I think if she would be a little bit fresher, she had to take me there. One, two more long rallies and it would be difficult for me.

But then she also gave me some chances. Then, of course, when emotions takes over like when you're on fire, then you don't think any more about physic.


Q. 4‑5 in the second set; you double fault to match point. You see that ball go into the net. Is it the worst feeling in the world?

DINARA SAFINA: When?


Q. When you double fault to go to match point at 4‑5.

DINARA SAFINA: 3‑5?


Q. Yes, 3‑5.

DINARA SAFINA: I just choked so badly.


Q. And then she misses a backhand return. Do you feel like, oh, I'm alive again?

DINARA SAFINA: Yes, actually. That's what I felt. Double fault, I mean, I didn't jump, I didn't turn. It was like jumping backwards already to the fence on the serve, so it was like complete. And also at 5‑Love, even set 5‑Love, and still my serve was going 120.

They were just kick serve, and normally I can really smack the serve. So it was really some moments I was so tight. Like I just could not go. Like jump out of the ground.

[Daydreamer]

OMG 6-3 6-2 Dina is in the final, congrats girl !

[justsafin]

Jun 5, 2008 16:50:28 GMT 3 Daydreamer said:

OMG 6-3 6-2 Dina is in the final, congrats girl !

WOW

Dina has been so impressive thru out the clay court season. Get the trophy, girl !!

If that's the case, would it be the first "brother and sister" to have GS titles? Mama will be so proud of her kids. We are proud and happy for them, too!! ;D ;D ;D And Marat, hard work will eventually pay off. Please keep on fighting

Sorry for Svet, I like her alot, too. But Dina has a straight set win. She is in incredible form now. Congratulations for the first GS finals, DINA!

[jenhatter06]

Yay Dinara!!!

If she wins Saturday, it would be the first brother-sister combo to have GS titles. ;D

Way awesome for the family -- and Mama Rausa has been looking lovely in pink cheering Dinara on the last couple days.

ESPN just spoke to Dinara during the break between sets 2 & 3 on Ivanovic-Jankovic ... she too looking pretty in pink ... Dinara was all smiles, calm, very well-spoken ... but all the while keeping an eye on the action going on in the other semi, watching the drama ... very happy to be through, nice not to have to come back from the brink again ... it would be wonderful for the family for her to have a GS trophy too ... on Saturday, she's just going to go out there and play and give it all she has, hopes the crowd enjoys the match, and hope that at the end, she and whoever she is to play can shake hands at the hand and say they gave it their all ... commented on how much she knows Marat loves playing in Paris, so she's kind of playing it for him too ... and when asked which is more nerve-wracking, herself playing in a final or watching Marat play one, she said watching Marat -- she sometimes can't watch because she gets really nervous for him

[jenhatter06]

“It feels amazing,” Safina said. “I didn’t expect that I could get to the final. I think the less you think, the better it is. Because when you less expect it, the result comes.”

Safina said her brother, who lost in the second round, is in England preparing for Wimbledon.

“He won’t show up for the final,” she said. “If it’s going to be live (on TV), I guess he will watch it.”

sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AtNYueUMUIGjuo3wjqYlGFA4v7YF?slug=ap-frenchopen&prov=ap&type=lgns

[coolgirl]

Jun 5, 2008 19:58:46 GMT 3 jenhatter06 said:

“He won’t show up for the final,” she said. “If it’s going to be live (on TV), I guess he will watch it.”

sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AtNYueUMUIGjuo3wjqYlGFA4v7YF?slug=ap-frenchopen&prov=ap&type=lgns

What are the chances he will surprise his sister by showing up for the finals this saturday?

[hellanvodka]

Full transcribe
Q. Svetlana in her first five matches had been almost unbreakable on serve, and today you dominated her serve. How did you prepare to do that, and how did you execute that so well?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, with her, I really had to be aggressive, especially with return. Just always to keep her under pressure.

Maybe just I had it so much in my mind, so just whatever was coming I knew that I had to hit. I was moving much more aggressive to the ball by having this already in my mind.


Q. Moving to the final match, you're going to play against Ana or Jelena, most probably Ana. How are you going to meet her? Is this the first time you're going to play her? What are your experiences with her?

DINARA SAFINA: This is not first time playing. We already play before. It's still too early to think about. It's still in two days. I still have to enjoy today.

When I will come to the point where I have to think about match point, then I'll think about it.


Q. What is your experience with her before?

DINARA SAFINA: She's up. (laughter.)


Q. What do you think of this final, Slav final? Do you have an explanation why there are so many Russian/Serbian players in the top at this moment?

DINARA SAFINA: This is first time you are in a press conference? Because every time the same questions you ask. I don't know how many times we have to say, I guess from the beginning, that we have a pretty good school for the technique.

I think that, and the old generation, they teach, the coaches, they really learn us how to play, how to play with the ball. The technique is very important in tennis.

I guess that's ‑‑ and then I think just the like the characters. You will see everybody on the tour. Everybody is such a fighter, so I think just that we are really strong personally.


Q. About the match, how do you feel winning that first set for a change?

DINARA SAFINA: I think first set was really important, because I was up straight with the break, and then I lost my serve. Then she was ‑‑ I think she was 3‑2 up. I don't remember.

But it was really like important to go through, because once I went ‑‑ like I had a set, then I knew, like, I can still push a little bit more. Also what it would be for me mentally easier and physically.

Once you sat down, after having yesterday I would think maybe I would go a little bit down. Then you know, like, okay, you have one set in front. Then, of course, fire comes and you really like start to fly.


Q. Sometimes when a player survives a match, had a match point against them, they get freer. They feel like maybe destiny is on their side. You've done it twice in this tournament. Do you feel that way?

DINARA SAFINA: I guess I felt that being two times away from the tournament and still be here, so ‑‑ and God kept me in this tournament, so I could not anymore. So I said, Okay, now I'm not going to be any more passive.

I have to be aggressive, because there will be no third chance that this will happen. And then, of course, after losing this fears, and like playing two times, I was two times maybe a little bit tight.

After going through, then there is no more emotions inside. Like you just know what you have to do.


Q. Were there any emotions when you're serving at 5‑2 Love‑30, thinking about the last couple of matches?

DINARA SAFINA: A little bit. But then I was like first point was way too passive. I was like, Come on. I mean, you are 5‑2 up, double break. I mean, don't be passive like the other ones did with me.

So I said better miss, but do the right thing. Actually then I start to be a little bit aggressive, and I served well there.


Q. Like most matches, there are many crucial moments. I wonder whether you think the sixth game of the second set, that long game she won, might have been the most crucial moment. Because she was beginning to try to get the momentum back from you, and you had to work hard to win that game.

DINARA SAFINA: Yeah, that was important, because first I was Love‑30 down and then I came back 30‑All and then I had game points.

Then on some points she played well, and then also I think was like long rally and she played me dropshot. I got there, and I still missed by a little bit.

But then that's good that I stayed there. I didn't want with my mind like kind of angry at myself. I'm like, Oh, unlucky.

But I stayed there, like, Okay, unlucky, but I still will fight for this game, and that's turned.


Q. You had two and long matches against Dementieva and Sharapova. Today did you feel any exhaustion at all at any moment during the match?

DINARA SAFINA: Actually, I was surprised, like today in the morning, because I really had to wake up a little bit early and to go first I think to the gym to keep my body going. So I started already from early morning to move.

I think that if I would have one day off and then I would have to play tomorrow would be different. Because like this it would relax my mind. But I was so tense that, I'm not tired. I'm not tired. I'm not tired.

So I no even think in my mind that I'm tired. Maybe by the end of the day today I will feel like more exhausted.


Q. It's your first Slam final, and it's a new situation for you. What's going to be the key for you just mentally going into this match?

DINARA SAFINA: I think just take it as another match and just take focus on myself and what I have to do. Like there is only the ball, and I have to do the things that I know to do, and try to avoid thinking as much as I can about, This is the final. If it's like the first round.

Like it's still the same court and still the same ball. It's just how I take it in my mind, how I will prepare for the final.


Q. You looked pretty calm on court today. Is it because you are thankful for what happened in the previous rounds, or just because you have self‑confidence?

DINARA SAFINA: I think I was confident, like there's nothing else can happen. Already being down, and then also winning the matches in two sets and completely losing the match and still ‑‑ so I went through everything until the final, like until now, so I had like confidence in everything.


Q. In the middle of the second set, the double faults began to creep into your game. It cost you a game. Were you getting a little bit tired? And if you were, how did you pull yourself out of that?

DINARA SAFINA: I mean, once I served the first serve, and by the end of the serve I was already one meter behind the baseline. So I was like, maybe at least on the first serve you will jump in the court and not behind.

I was not jumping, I was just turning. It was disaster. And then I was like, Come on, just do the right thing on the serve, and then if it flies out it flies out. But just at least turn your shoulders, go down with the legs, and jump.

And then there was this in long point when I made serve her ace wide. At least I served 150, because the other serves were 114, and my score said that it was at least fast. One was 105.

After that, I really ‑‑ like I turned, I jumped, and I was like, Okay, now you do like this every time. So I think that ace helped me.


Q. What about your brother? What's the best advice he has given you? And will he show up for the final?

DINARA SAFINA: No, he's in England. He won't show up for the final.


Q. But he'll be able to watch it on TV live?

DINARA SAFINA: If it's going to be live, I guess he will watch it. (laughter.)


Q. I saw that you won twice, and you lost once to both the Serbian the girls, 2 to 1, head to head. I'd like to know if that is more an advantage because it gives you more confidence, or it's a handicap in a way because puts you more pressure knowing that you had won and so you should repeat yourself. What of the two things?

DINARA SAFINA: Pressure, no. I mean, they're the ones who are better ranked and better players, so all the pressure has to be ‑‑ they have to prove.

And for my ‑‑ as I said, I'll just trying to concentrate on what I know how ‑‑ what I know to do on the court, and just do have I would be able to do that day.

Just, like, give everything I have. Because there is no more like I have ‑‑ if I have to die, I will have to die on the court, because there is no more ‑‑ there is no ‑‑ to save energy for nothing, so I have to give all my energy out.


Q. You're probably not the fastest player in women's tennis, but you're probably faster than you were a couple years ago. How have you improved your quickness around the court?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, this is the thing that I started to work on, and I have a new fitness coach. So this is for me the key: The fitness.

So when I feel like light on the court, yes, I'm not the fastest, but I still can read the game. I'm big, so I can still cover the court, so...

I'm working on it, and I still ‑‑ I think I can be still ‑‑ there is lot of things that I can improve.


Q. Have you ever thought that Marat saved a match point on a Slam event and then he won it?

DINARA SAFINA: Yes. It was against Roger in semis.


Q. Does that help your confidence?

DINARA SAFINA: We will see.

[safin4eva]

GOOD ON YOU DINA!!! ;D ;D Congrats on getting to the final!!! ;D
here are some pics from semi vs Kuznetsova!!
1st time at posting pics so I hope they turn out alrite!!!













Go out there and teach your brother a lesson or two! hahaha! ;D
Best of luck against Ivanovic!! Keep the momentum and confidence flowing and I'm sure you'll beat her!!
DAVAII DINA!! ;D ;D
Safin4Eva

[jenhatter06]

Interview - Friday June 6th

Q. How are you physically today after your big match?
DINARA SAFINA: Actually, I'm feeling pretty good. I recovered I think well after those two tough matches. Yesterday it was a little bit easier, so actually I'm okay.

Q. How do you improve your physical shape and how does it influence your game?
DINARA SAFINA: Well, physically it's a key for me, so I been working really hard. I even had to find a new fitness coach that I was looking for.

Of course, I was working really hard. We just started actually with him before Berlin, so...

Q. It's been almost two years since you played Ana in Canada in a rainy week, and we know how she's a different player today. How are you a different player today?
DINARA SAFINA: Well, it's really ‑‑ it's past already two years, so we both were really working hard on our weaknesses and to improve our best shots, so I don't know.

I've been searching of that, like how I can say? Like for the coach who can help me to develop my best shots and to improve my weaknesses. So I hope I'm ‑‑ I think I'm moving also much better than before. I don't know.

At the moment, the way I was playing these matches, I can say I was feeling pretty also confident on the court.

Q. I spoke with your mother yesterday, and she says the difference for you is that you're steadier. You have more belief and you have more control when you're on the court. Do you agree with that, as well?
DINARA SAFINA: Yeah. Also, like, with emotions for me, so I started to deal with my emotions and I accept some things if they're not going my way. So I say, Okay, it's not going my way. I have to find something else.

So maybe the years before I would say, Oh, I'm so unlucky. I cannot do this. So I would start to not even look for the answers. But now I'm trying every time, Okay, this is not working, but I'm going to find other solutions to still win a match when I'm not playing my best.

Q. You saved two times match points. Does it influence your mental attitude, because you could be not there?
DINARA SAFINA: Well, of course. As I said like before, now, like even it was set of 5‑2, maybe before it would be third set I would still fight. But like I could say all the match were in their hands.

Then I would say ‑‑ I would just not play anymore, like would not fight for that. But now I'm like, Okay, I'm still going to hang in there and still maybe give extra ball, extra shot, or maybe do something else.

So I start to always kind of search for something in the match.

Q. You said something yesterday that I've been thinking about quite a lot. You said your brother, who is in England, would not come to Paris. I thought, this could be the greatest moment of her tennis career. Why would he not come to watch your first Grand Slam final?
DINARA SAFINA: I don't know. Maybe he will come. He didn't tell me anything. I guess maybe he will make a surprise and he come, because I really like when he comes to see me.

But I think as when I see him play I get so nervous, so he will also be so nervous he will not even be able to watch me play.

Q. Your mother also said that through your careers that she gave very different advice to you than she did to Marat, because men's tennis and women's tennis and a man player and a woman player is so different. Were you aware of that? Did you sense that? She also said something to the fact that, you know, you thought that you would win right away like Marat did. She said, Oh, no, you'll have to wait for your turn.
DINARA SAFINA: Actually, I never heard this from her, so I don't know how... (laughter.)

Q. It's a secret?

DINARA SAFINA: Maybe she's telling you this, but she never told me this.

Q. You were a 14‑year‑old girl when your brother won the US Open. Can you tell us what you remember about that day?
DINARA SAFINA: Actually, I was not even watching the final, because he was in States and I was in ‑‑ at that moment we were living in Spain. They were showing I don't know on which channel, so we didn't even have even this channel.

We had just friends who were calling us and telling us the score. So then the parents ‑‑ I was already sleeping because it was so late for me, and then my parents came and they told me.

But when I saw this match on the video it was just, I don't know, amazing. Like the way he played, it's just ‑‑ was too good.

Q. I'd like to ask you about another family memory. Until this week, probably the most famous thing your family has done here was Marat dropping his shorts during the tournament in 2004. What do you remember about that?
DINARA SAFINA: I also didn't see this moment, but they have on YouTube, so I saw it a couple times. (laughter.) ;D

Well, I don't know. He just ‑‑ I think he's also entertainer to watch. That's why the people love to come to watch him play, because he always give some show. I mean, he's real on the court. If he has emotions, he will not hide them. He will explode, because I think that he's real.

And if he felt like ‑‑ because I think it was really like a long point, and he was kind of like, I did like everything to win this point. He was like, how can you say it? He played out of his ass, so he kind of he showed it.

Q. Would you say that you and he share the same kind of personality?

DINARA SAFINA: I think even for the girls sometimes I behave not very nice. (laughter.) I am breaking the racquets also, and I sometimes I also can say not a nice words on the court.

But I'm like this. I know I'm not perfect, but the people have to like me the way I am. I don't want to hide my personality, to be like not the way I am. I'm the way I am.

Q. Considering that Ana Ivanovic hits so many winners but also unforced errors ‑ especially in yesterday's match when she hit 43 winners and 45 unforced errors ‑ do you think the extra‑ball tactics is the best one you can use against her?
DINARA SAFINA: Well, definitely you cannot think about her unforced errors, because that's not the way you have to go out there. As I said, I just have to go there and focus on myself, to play my game.

It's going to be, again, the one who first start to dominate the point. Because she likes to be aggressive, and I want also to be aggressive.

So just the one who is going to be more aggressive and who take the incentive in the point is going to win.

Q. This is a new experience for you. How are your nerves looking forward to tomorrow's match? And also, is it hard to keep yourself from thinking about how you might celebrate if you win and not jump ahead?
DINARA SAFINA: No, of course it's new experience for me. I don't want to think about this at the moment. I still have some time in the evening, and then I will sit with my coach and we're going to speak about the match.

But, anyway, I think like what was happening already these two weeks were really good, and just it's one more step to go.

As I said, I just want to give everything what I have left inside of me. And that after the match, whatever happens, you shake the hands and said, Well, I did everything, and who is better will win.

Q. Personality‑wise, do you and Marat take after your mom or your dad?
DINARA SAFINA: What do you mean?

Q. Like you said you say some words on court that you shouldn't, and he's temperamental or whatever. Who do you get that from in your family?
DINARA SAFINA: From my dad, because he's also like character, like cannot lose. Even he plays like football for fun, and when he loses with the friends and you come home he's also so angry.

And you're like, Pop, it's only a friend's match. But he's like so ‑‑ like always wants to win.

Q. You did such an excellent job on service returns yesterday against Svetlana. As you said, you were able to get into motion and step in and attack the serve. Is it more difficult or less difficult to read Ana's service to know where it's coming from so that you can also be equally aggressive with her serve?
DINARA SAFINA: It just comes from the mind. If in your mind kind of you want to be aggressive, you start already move much aggressive.

You start to look like at the ball more, because you know you have to take your chances. It's just the way you take it, I think.

Q. Do you think she has little advantage because she has the experience of Grand Slam finals?
DINARA SAFINA: We'll see tomorrow. (laughter.)

Q. Since you got to Berlin, you've beaten six opponents who were in the top 10 at the time. Did you feel going to Berlin something was coming together? Did you have any sense that something like this could happen?
DINARA SAFINA: Not really. When I went to Berlin I just ‑‑ I don't know, like just there I came to the tournament and I said, like, Okay, I'm going to just take one match at a time and I'm going to play my game, and whatever happens.

Because I knew if I'm going to play my game, and even if I will lose a match, it's one step in front because I played my game, and then I know on what I have to work if I lose.

Okay, and then there is more possibility that I will win, because my game is aggressive. I just took one match at a time. I was just focusing on myself, what I have to do, and not on the opponents.

That's how it started. So I found myself on the court, and it was just match by match and point by point.

Q. Sometimes you ask to the ball boys a special ball. It's because you are superstitious or something like that?
DINARA SAFINA: It's ‑‑ yeah, then you lose the point and then you say that you don't care anymore. (laughter.)

No, it's stupid things, but, yeah, you start like, Okay, why not one more point to win with this ball, and you just start to go with this.

[coolgirl]

Great Article from ESPN:

Don't presume conventional wisdom in this final

PARIS -- We're down to the final two at the French Open.

Ana Ivanovic, the new world No. 1 after disposing of Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals, is the more accomplished player and has experience on her side. Last year she reached the Roland Garros final but was swiftly vanquished by Justine Henin. Ivanovic was also an Australian Open finalist earlier this year but again didn't show much resistance versus Maria Sharapova. For the first time, though, Ivanovic will be the favorite in a Grand Slam finale, and there's little doubt she's seeking retribution for her past outings on the grandest of stages.

Her opponent, Dinara Safina, is the hottest player on tour, having reeled off 12 straight wins. Her mental toughness and mettle have also manifested themselves; she has staved off match points in consecutive bouts versus Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva. In her maiden Grand Slam final, Safina appears blissfully in her element and will have little compunction standing toe-to-toe with her opposition.

So who is going to ratchet up a notch in Paris for the right to be called a first-time Grand Slam champion? Greg Garber and Bonnie D. Ford make their cases.


ANA IVANOVIC
One thing is certain in Saturday's championship match -- the woman who wins it will have made a tremendous psychological breakthrough. Ana Ivanovic is better positioned to do that than Dinara Safina, and here's why:
In the French Open final a year ago, Ivanovic froze up on center court, unable to respond to the occasion or to Justine Henin's surgical skill. It was almost difficult to watch at times. In January, Ivanovic played unevenly and fell before Maria Sharapova's onslaught in the Australian Open final.

Thing is, this is an exceptionally bright player. Ivanovic has spent time recently working on her in-match poise as well as her fitness, her serve and the diversity of her game.
"The last couple of months have been a real learning experience for me," she told a small group of reporters. "I was finding it very hard to deal with the pressures and expectations I was facing." She has found a new "tool" as she called it, to relax, banish negative thoughts, breathe and "enjoy the moment." That's quite a contrast with Safina's blood-curdling screams and geranium-beheading racket abuse, which might not be as effective at this juncture.

So focused is the 20-year-old that she had no idea she had a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking if she won the semifinal against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic. "I didn't want one more thing on my mind," she said Friday. Ivanovic's entourage made a point of not mentioning it either, so it was a locker room attendant who conveyed the happy news. How did she celebrate? With ice for her cooldown, and no Champagne.

Yes, Ivanovic will have to serve better, as she noted herself. Yes, she'll have to exorcise the ghosts of the recent past. But with all due respect to Safina's amazing grit and competitiveness in the last couple of matches, it's hard to imagine that she has much left in the tank, physically or emotionally. She'll leave Paris with a moral victory no matter the score. If Safina digs herself a hole, Ivanovic should be capable of stepping on her fingers rather than letting her climb out. Ivanovic is the more ready of the two to seize the day.
-- Bonnie D. Ford

DINARA SAFINA
A Grand Slam tournament is a seven-stage marathon that sorely tests both body and soul.
At some point, particularly for those who have not run the complete race before, the wall always appears. After playing two emotional five-set matches -- one against his idol Lleyton Hewitt -- David Ferrer hit the wall hard. Frenchman Gael Monfils, happy for the opportunity, defeated him in four sets and advanced to the semifinals.

Dinara Safina seemed poised to crash after she authored two improbable comebacks, against fellow Russians Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva. But a funny thing happened on the way to her demise. She actually won a first set and glided to victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, all the way into her first Grand Slam final.

Now, what to expect on Saturday against Ana Ivanovic?
The conventional wisdom is that it is Ivanovic's time. This is her third major final and, after two one-sided losses, she is old enough and wise enough to handle this big moment.

Rubbish.

Safina hasn't been abiding by protocol for the last month. She wrecked three top-10 players in Hamburg, including Justine Henin, and now she's sent home three more: No. 1 Sharapova, No. 4 Kuznetsova and No. 8 Dementieva.

And expect a fourth. Ana Ivanovic will officially be the WTA's No. 1 player come Monday, but on Saturday Ivanovic will finish second here at Roland Garros.

Eight years ago, a man-child from Russia wandered into the 2000 U.S. Open and obliterated the field. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras, who had won eight consecutive Grand Slam finals. Marat Safin beat Sampras 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

His little sister Dinara will follow suit. Besides, Ivanovic owes her a favor. It was Safina's defeat of Sharapova that allowed Ivanovic to ascend to No. 1in the first place.

-- Greg Garber

[sabz]

Another article from eurosport

Ivanovic vs Safina Final Preview

Ana Ivanovic will have to deal with the added pressure of being the favourite if she is to lift her first Grand Slam title in the French Open final against Russian survivor Dinara Safina.

The second seed, last year's runner-up, is assured of the world number one ranking whatever happens against the 13th-seeded Safina, who knocked out previous incumbent Maria Sharapova in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

For the first time in three grand slam final appearances, Ivanovic will be expected to win.

"The other day someone asked me, 'Are you going to forget the (last year's) final and play a different one? No, because it was a great learning experience," said Ivanovic, who lost 6-1 6-2 to the now retired Justine Henin in the 2007 final.

"I learned a lot from Justine and the emotions I was feeling going on the court. So I really hope I can work hard on it and play different this year.

"Obviously I feel like a different player coming into this French Open. A lot of experience I gain from that final and the final in Australia, so I really hope I can step up this time and make one more step."

She suffered heavy defeats to Henin and to Sharapova in the Australian Open final in January, but against the world number 14, she is the undoubted favourite.

However, Safina is a tough nut to crack, as Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova can vouch.

Marat Safin's younger sister, who admits she still cries when she watches her brother's 2005 Australian Open semi-final victory over Roger Federer, twice came back from match point down to advance.

Against Sharapova and Dementieva, she was a set and 5-2 down before staving off a match point on her serve, rallying back and rolling over her compatriots.

Kuznetsova, who had been tipped by Henin as a potential winner in Paris this year, was helpless in the semi-final, losing 6-3 6-2.

Safina, nicknamed 'Marata' because of her tendency to lose her temper like her brother, is ready to give her all to clinch her first slam title. ;D

"If I have to die, I will have to die on the court, because there is no more point in saving energy for nothing, so I have to give all my energy," she said.

Safina was quick to put the pressure on her opponent.

Asked ahead of Thursday's semi-final between Ivanovic and third seed Jelena Jankovic if there was a chance she would feel tense, she said: "Pressure, no. I mean, they're the ones who are better ranked and better players, so all the pressure has to be on them. They have to prove."

Safina, who won the German Open last month, is 2-1 down in her meetings with Ivanovic but her only win came on the Berlin clay three years ago.

And Safina has the game it takes to bother Ivanovic on the red dirt.

Her top-spin is probably one of the best weapons against the flat-hitting Ivanovic, who recorded 43 winners but also 45 unforced errors in her 6-4 3-6 6-4 defeat of compatriot Jankovic.

[safin4eva]

Ahhhh Dinara!!! You unlucky Girl!!
Ivanovic was always going to be a tough opponent especially for the final but I am so proud of you achieving what you have in RG, playing brilliant matches against Masha, Kuznetsova and the others before... WELL DONE DINA!! ;D ;D ;D
You Go Girl!!! hahaha!

Some more pics from the Final, including Dinas reaction to that unforunate match point and the Presentation...













With Justine Henin who presneted the trophies:





SAFIN4EVA.. ;D ;D ;D

[coolgirl]

Dina looks taller than Ana, isnt she..

[helloticky]

yep I also wonder cuz in WTA player profile Ana is taller than Dinara..??!!...I like Dinara figure than Ana...Dinara looks stronger & much more muscle ^_^

[maratski]

Great pics ............. thx !!!