Dinara News Thread

[coolgirl]

Here's Marat's sister, from her doubles match today, posted by maryc of tennisforum..

[safin4eva]

Thanks Coolgirl ;D
omg i really love her tennis outfit!! the colour is awesome and it really suits her!! ;D
Is that Demetieva shes playing with??

Anybody know whats next for our Dina??

[safin4eva]

Some more pics from Dina practising in Montreal..
thanks to coolness form mtf..

[annie]

Jul 31, 2008 9:55:09 GMT 3 safin4eva said:

Thanks Coolgirl ;D
omg i really love her tennis outfit!! the colour is awesome and it really suits her!! ;D
Is that Demetieva shes playing with??

Anybody know whats next for our Dina??

that's Kuznetzova not Dementieva

[safin4eva]

Aug 1, 2008 13:47:13 GMT 3 annie said:

Jul 31, 2008 9:55:09 GMT 3 safin4eva said:

Thanks Coolgirl ;D
omg i really love her tennis outfit!! the colour is awesome and it really suits her!! ;D
Is that Demetieva shes playing with??

Anybody know whats next for our Dina??

that's Kuznetzova not Dementieva

Thanks for clarifying it annie!! ;D
I knew it was gonna be one of them lol!! Too many ovas and evas to contend with hahaha ;D ;D

[helloticky]

thanks coolgirl &safin4eva ^_^ wow it's seem russian will great in olmpic & Fed cup right ^_^

[coolgirl]

Speaking of shirts, here's dinara's version. i wonder whether big bro agrees with it, lol!



By the way, Dina into the semis again @ Rogers Cup beating her doubles partner 2-6 6-3 6-2

[coolgirl]

Rogers Cup
Dinara into her fifth final in the last six tournaments she entered. She will now play Cibulkova after beating Viktoria Azarenka 6-0 2-6 6-3.

[safin4eva]

Cibulkova to meet Safina in final
2 hours ago
The Press Association

Dominika Cibulkova continued her surprising play by upending 10th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 6-3 in a rain-delayed semi-final at the Rogers Cup on Saturday.

Cibulkova had to earn her spot, waiting out the rain before finally getting past Bartoli in two hours and 45 minutes to earn a spot in Sunday's final against seventh-seeded Dinara Safina.

"It really helped me that it started raining because I was able to go in the locker room and talk to my coach," Cibulkova said. "It wasn't easy to talk to my coach because he was really mad. Then I realised that if I start to play my game, to put more pressure on her, to step in the court, then I have a chance to play against her and to win this match."

Safina outlasted Victoria Azarenka 6-0 2-6 6-3, in Saturday's other semi-final.

"She's a very tough opponent, she proved that this week," Safina said of Cibulkova. "She beat some very good players. But it's another match. I just want to focus on myself, playing my game, being aggressive."

The unseeded Cibulkova has been a giant-killer this week, upsetting world number two Jelena Jankovic, sixth-ranked Elena Dementieva and number 12 seed Nadia Petrova en route to the semis.

This is Cibulkova's second final. Her other final appearance came this season at Amelia Island, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

"Winning my first title is still very far yet," Cibulkova said. "It's still one match. I'm so excited about this, about my game and that I'm in the final of a Tier I for the first time."

In the other semi-final, Safina continued the best stretch of her career by bouncing number 11 Azarenka. Safina connected on only 59 percent of her first serves, but won 6-of-8 break points and prevailed in one hour and 45 minutes.


Thanks Coolgirl for excellent pictures!! Dina is just unstoppable now.. shes in such great form!!
GO DINARA!!! WOOOHHOOOO!! Go for the NO.1 RANK!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D

[Daydreamer]

What an achievment for Dina. Great match and 100% deserved win. Congrads

[coolgirl]

She just won Rogers Cup! 6-1 6-2 over Cibulkova.

Congratulations SAfina!

[sabz]

this girl is going from strength to strength!! CONGRATS SOOOO MUCH DINA!!!
btw i LOVE that trophy!! how cool!!!

GOOD LUCK IN BEIJING!!!

[coolgirl]

Safina keeps the Canadian Open in the family
From Monday's Globe and Mail
August 3, 2008 at 8:59 PM EDT

MONTREAL — Marat's little sister Dinara is now the best player in women's tennis, at least based on the past three months.

Dinara Safina, five years younger at 23 than brother Marat Safin, is 27-3 going back to May and her victory on red clay in Berlin.

Then, she was the runner-up to Ana Ivanovic at the French Open on a magical run that included saving two match points against Maria Sharapova in the round of 16 and one against Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals.

After reaching the final of a grass-court event in the Netherlands and then exiting Wimbledon in the third round, she has now won back-to-back tournaments – in Los Angeles last week and in Montreal yesterday at the Rogers Cup, where she overwhelmed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

“My coach, my fitness trainer, they can see in my eyes that there are no emotions – not positive, not negative, just empty,” she said in mildly disjointed English about her serious fatigue after playing and winning 10 matches in 12 days across three time zones.

“It's a first-time experience for me. Normally when I come to a tournament after winning, next week I always lose first round. When I won my first match [over fellow Russian Anastasia Rodionova], it was, like, ‘Okay, I'm one step better than the other times.' Today, I was, like, ‘Give whatever you have inside and stay quiet and don't show any emotions, because they're going to destroy me.' And I did it.”

With the win, she and Marat became the only brother-sister pair to win the same tournament at the Tier I (WTA Tour) and Masters Series (ATP) level or higher. Marat, 20 at the time, won the 2000 Canadian Open in Toronto and four weeks later the U.S. Open in New York.

“It's unbelievable,” she of sharing a Canadian Open championship with Marat, “but he's still ahead of me in titles.” She got more than halfway to his total yesterday and now has eight to his 15.

The improvement of Safina, who's at a career-best ranking of No.7, can be attributed partly to coach Zeljko Krajan and fitness trainer Dejan Vojnovic, both from Croatia, who have helped smooth some of her on-court temperamental rough edges and toned a body that used to carry a little too much baby fat.

There was also a terrible case of facial acne in 2006 and 2007. It has completely cleared up and made her much more comfortable in public.

“I think she was a little bit tight,” Safina said of No.20-ranked Cibulkova and her mediocre play yesterday. Cibulkova, 19, who had upset four top-12 seeds, including No.2 Jelena Jankovic, confirmed that observation. “I was pretty nervous in my first big final,” she said. “I wish I'd played better.”

After former No.1 Justine Henin's retirement in May, women's tennis has no clear focus in terms of the top spot. While Jankovic will be No.1 as of the Aug. 11 rankings, the next week, after the Olympic Games, she will be replaced at the top by either current No.1 Ivanovic or No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Safina, with not too many points to defend before the end of the year, has a chance to make it to No.1.

But she is reticent to say much about that. “I don't want to think about it,” she said. “I just want to be healthy and take one step at a time. Let's see if I can ever make it.”

At six feet and athletic in an angular way, Dinara resembles her brother both in physical appearance and in her tendency to be wry and whimsical in her dealings with the media.

Yesterday, asked about her brother's best advice to her, she went off on a ramble about a particular incident in 2002.

“I remember he was playing against [Nicolas] Kiefer in the U.S. Open,” she said. “I came to watch him. It was my first Grand Slam. He's playing a really bad match and he's, like, ‘Dinara, like this you don't have to play never.' He was, like, really defensive, not doing anything on the court.”

And there is also a nice Safina punchline to the story. A little research reveals that Marat won the match – in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

[Annie]

whoa girl!!!!!!!!!! Well done!!!! Keep up the great work ;D

[helloticky]

thank you so much safin4eva& coolgirl for pics& news I do happy with her congrats Dinara
bravooooo she deserve in all
& this video Emma posted in Marat OS
www.rds.ca/video/visionneuse.html?category=8
"Facile pour Safina" then just move down see.....
"Les commeutaires d'aprs-match" Dinara interview ....
"Safina coutinue sur salance" highlight with Aazrenka....
"Safina daue le carr d'as" highlight with Kuznetsova....
"Safina en quarts de finale" with Schnyder
** all credit by Emma thank you girl for sharing
& you guys also see in www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/multimedia/default_video.asp
highlight & interview from both Montreal & LA ....ohhhh I love to see all of them Dinara thanks you made my day .....good luck to Beijing