2009 SUMMARY
Titles Won: Rome, Madrid, Portoroz
Best Grand Slam Result: Runner-up: Australian Open, Roland Garros
Win/Loss Record: 55-15
Record Against Top 10: 4-6
SEC History: Making second appearance; RR in 2008
Safina's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour bio
It's been a tale of two seasons for Dinara Safina. In April she achieved her dream of becoming world No.1, and by mid-year she had done enough to be first to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships. But after her loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final at Roland Garros, and semifinal drubbing by Venus Williams at Wimbledon, Safina came under scrutiny. The pressure to win a Grand Slam title began to tell, and as the summer wore on the consistency that had helped promote her evaporated.
The Russian's 2008 season was always going to be a tough act to follow - from her title run at Berlin to the end of the season she went 44-7 and won four titles. But she started 2009 promisingly, finishing runner-up to Elena Dementieva in Sydney and to Serena Williams at the Australian Open. Though the disappointment of the latter loss was plain to see, she could take pride in the fact she had achieved something new.
Fiercely talented, Safina in full flight is a sight to see, but ironically her ascent to No.1 came after an ordinary couple of months, with early losses at Dubai (to Virginie Razzano), Indian Wells (to Victoria Azarenka) and Miami (to Samantha Stosur). But she actually seemed to relish her new status: Kuznetsova got the better of her in the final at Stuttgart but she turned the tables on her compatriot at Rome the following week and beat Caroline Wozniacki for the Premier Mandatory title at Madrid.
Photo gallery: Safina's 2009 season
Fitter and more composed than ever, the hard work had paid off, with that tricky first Slam the only thing missing. But by the end of Roland Garros she was 0-3 in major finals, and while she rightly pointed out that reaching a first Wimbledon semifinal was something to celebrate, the nature of her loss to Venus was not.
After Wimbledon came a morale-boosting title at International-level Portoroz - Sara Errani made her fight to the death for the trophy in a gripping final - but the hardcourts of North America, where she shined 12 months earlier, did not prove a happy hunting ground. Safina's title defense in Los Angeles ended in the round of 16 against Zheng Jie, and another trophy was handed back in Toronto, where she lost her opener to Aravane Rezai.
Had she beaten Jelena Jankovic in the final at Cincinnati, Safina's season might have developed differently, but her US Open bid capsized against Petra Kvitova in the third round. Worse was to come in Asia: a second round loss to 132nd-ranked Chang Kai-Chen in Tokyo was followed by defeat to Zhuang Shuai at the China Open. (At No.226, Zhuang became the lowest-ranked player ever to beat a reigning world No.1.) It was a disappointing end to the main season for a competitor who arrives in Doha with what is nonetheless a very fine 55-15 win-loss record.
Last year Safina scored 12 Top 10 wins; this year there have been just four, the last of them coming against Azarenka in the quarters at Roland Garros. That doesn't augur well for Doha, sure, but it is worth remembering Kim Clijsters and Amélie Mauresmo won the SEC and were ranked No.1 before going on to win Slams. Champions bounce back, and Safina may well show her mettle this week.
Highlights: Madrid Final: Safina vs. Wozniacki Off-Court: Behind the Scenes with Dinara Safina
