TennisToday

Dinara Safina: The Horseback Riding Archer

This began floating around Twitter this morning.

I have no idea where this is from. I just know it funtastic.

Thanks to FortyDeuceTwits and tejmeglekvar on Twitter.

Dinara Safina Wins 1st Round Match at Miami

Miami WTA Premier Mandatory - First Round

WC Dinara Safina d Q Jelena Dokic - 64 64

With the win Dinara evened out her year: 5-5 W/L.

She had a terrible AustraliAsia tour but she had 3 good wins in Indian Wells.

Even taking down a couple of seeds: Stosur and Hantuchova.

She started IW ranked #108 and afterward rose to her current #91.

Small building blocks, for sure.

Dinara will take a 6-4 winning record into her next match with #3 Zvonareva.

Where Dinara will surely need to step up big-time to remain in Miami.

It's hard not to cheer Dinara on.

Photo: Getty Images

Dinara Safina Wins 1st Match in 5 Months

Kuala Lumper WTA - 1st Round

Dinara Safina d Han Xinyun - 62 60

This is Dinara's 1st win since getting to the Qf's at Seoul last September.

Since then she has been on a 5 tournament 1st round losing streak.

She improves (!) her year to 1-3.

Dinara is currently ranked #113 - she had such a dismal 2010...

It's hard to imagine that she can't reverse course and start moving back up.

Let's do this Dinara.

Photo: Reuters - Aussie Open 2011

Kim Clijsters Serving Bagels at Australian Open

Australian Open - Women's First Round

3 Kim Clijsters d Dinara Safina - 60 60

This was a battle of former #1's. Wait, no. Not much of a battle at all.

44 minutes.

Hard to believe Dinara was the #2 seed here just a year ago.

Even harder to believe: Dinara won FOUR points in the 1st set. FOUR.

Dinara, aptly: There was nothing that I could hurt her. Embarrassing.

Add the loss to Bartoli last week in Hobart - she's won 1 game in 2 matches.

Kim imporves her record over Dinara to 8-2.

This is also the 6th time Kim has served-up a double bagel in Slam play.

This performance surely makes Kim the favorite to win her 1st Aussie title.

For what its worth: All of the ESPN commentators have picked her to win.

Photo: Reuters

Former #1's Jelena Jankovic & Dinara Safina Suffer Losses in Australia Yesterday

Sydney: Aravane Rezai d 6 Jelena Jankovic - 75 26 63

Hobart: 1 Marion Bartoli d Dinara Safina - 60 61

***

These are two ladies that are just hard to write about these days.

It wasn't long ago that each was the #1 woman on the WTA tour.

It's far too soon to write them off but both are struggling to find confidence.

Mightily.

And it's really hard to see either making much noise in Melbourne either.

Which saddens me. But hey, a decent draw and who knows...

Photos: Getty images

Dinara Safina & Marin Safin Dine Together

Dinara tweeted this photo today with the caption:

Having a dinner with my big brother!!!

I know some girls a jealous! Please don't be :-)

he is my brother :-)

***

Dinara is back on Twiiter after a long break.

Welcome back - and you can keep sharing photos of Marat!

Please.

Dinara Safina Spotted at Moscow Cathedral Mosque

This photo was retweeted around Twitter yesterday.

No idea when this was taken - but I thought it was a great photo.

And with this blog nearly a year old I haven't done much on Dinara.

Her fault - not mine.

I hope she was there praying for a return to top 10 tennis in 2011.

As for 2010 - she will finish the year in the 60's after ending of '09 at #2.

Damn back injury recovery slowed her to a W/L this year of only 13-16.

See you in Australia.

Novak Djokovic Looking (and Playing) Fine in Beijing

Beijing ATP 500 - Men's First Round

1 Novak Djokovic d WC Mao-Xin Gong - 61 63

Novak never faced a break point while breaking Gong 4 times to advance.

Novak will next play Mardy Fish - H2H: 5-0/ND, including 2 this year.

 

Novak, along with others, looking dapper at the player's party last night.

Let's see, we've got Dinara & Sam on Fern's shoulders, Caro, Tomas & Andy.

I'm guessing that all equals good times.

Novak is a breath away from qualifying for the year-end finals in London.

He is currently #2 in the regular rankings and #3 in the year-to-date.

With a lot of points to defend this year, Novak may finish '10 at #3.

To finish ahead of Roger this year - well, he has his work cut out for him.

Photos: Getty Images

US Open: Four Interesting Day One Matches

Tomorrow. Here we go. Two weeks of Open fun. And NO rain. Please.

***

Daniela Hantuchova vs Dinara Safina - H2H: 3-6

What planet am I on when Dinara is the lower ranked of the two?

Dinara has won their last 4 matches - including in New Haven last week.

***

5 Samantha Stour vs Elena Vesnina - H2H: 0-1

Elena's win came last year in New Haven - that's not too long agao.

Since her French Open run to the final Sam's only been to 2 Sf's & 2 Qfs.

***

13 Jurgen Melzer vs Dmitry Tursunov - H2H: 0-2

Jurgen is riding a career high. Dmitry is on the comeback trail at #482.

Bad news for Dmitry: In 4 tournaments back he's only won 1 match.

***

Melanie Oudin (above) vs Olga Savchuk - H2H: 1-0

Talk about pressure - 1st up on Day 1 on Arthur Ashe.

Also, an early loss and Mel's ranking (#43) will take a big hit.

COURAGE.

Photo: Oudin with Andy Roddick & Novak Djokovic at Kids Day yesterday.

Dinara Safina Finally Wins a Match - in San Diego

San Diego WTA - 1st Round

Dinara Safina d Alona Bondarenko - 61 76(2)

Dinara'a win last night snapped a 6 match losing streak: 6-8 W/L for '10.

That back injury cost her dear as she's watched her ranking slide...

10 minutes ago she was the #1 ranked player - she is currently #35.

Hopefully she is all healed-up and ready to get back into weekend play.

She may struggle to regain form tho - let's hope she's ready for a strong '11.

Photo: Getty Images

Dinara Safina Suffers 1st Round Loss in Madrid as Her Ranking Slide Begins

Q Klara Zakopalova d 3 Dinara Safina - 76(1) 76(3)

Sure it's a tough loss but I think Dinara had to know that coming back from a long injury break it was going to take a little time to get her confidence back to an optimal level. She did manage to get both sets into tie-breaks and that's traditionally where one can see exactly where a players confidence lies. She has a bit of distance to go yet.

This morning when the rankings were released she felt another slip falling from #3 to #5. As the defending champ in Madrid losing today will cost her dear - she will be just inside the top 10 when the next rankings are released next Monday.

Dinara will next head to Paris and should she fare poorly at Roland Garros (where she was the top seed and runner-up last year) she will sink like a stone in deep waters...

But fear not Safina fans - though it may take a little (more) time Dinara will be back among the elite of the women's tour before too long. That's my wish anyway.

Photo: Reuters

This Week the Women's WTA Tour Moves to Madrid

Dinara Safina (above), the winner last year, is an early player to watch.

She is still struggling to regain her form as she returns from back injury.

Projected Quarterfinals

1 Serena Williams vs 6 Elena Dementieva

Also in quarter: 11 Maria Sharapova, 16 Nadia Petrova, Daniela Hantuchova

3 Dinara Safina vs 7 Jelena Jankovic

Also in quarter: JUSTINE HENIN, Ana Ivanovic

***

4 Venus Williams vs 8 Samantha Stosur

Also in quarter: 9 Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

2 Caroline Wozniacki vs 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova

Also in quarter: 10 Victoria Azarenka, 13 Li Na

Photo: AP

Ana Ivanovic Wins & Dinara Safina Loses Today in Rome

Ana Ivanovic d 9 Victoria Azarenka - 64 64 - 2nd Round

This is only 2nd time Ana has won back-to-back matches since Wimbledon.

She will next play Elena Dementieva - can she make it 3 matches in Romes?

Alexandra Dulgheru d Dinara Safina - 64 67(5) 61

Dinara's comeback hit another snag as she crumbled in the 3rd set.

She now falls 1-2 in her return to the WTA tour.

As the defending champ in Rome she will likely take a rankings hit.

*****

Other winners today include:

1/WC Serena Williams d Timea Bacsinszky - 76(2) 61
2 Caroline Wozniacki d WC Maria Elena Camerin - 61 60
4 Venus Williams d Patty Schnyder - 62 62
6 Elena Dementieva d Yaroslava Shvedova - 64 75
7 Jelena Jankovic d Q Bethanie Mattek-Sands - 63 36 61

Photos: AP

This Week the Women's WTA Tour Heads to Rome & Estoril

 

ROME - Projected Quarterfinals:

1 Serena Williams vs 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova

4 Venus Williams vs 7 Jelena Jankovic

***

3 Dinara Safina (above) vs 6 Elena Dementieva

2 Caroline Wozniacki vs 8 Agniezska Radwanszka

***

ESTORIL - Projected Semifinals:

1 Agnes Szavay vs 4 Anabel Medina Garrigues

2 Sorona Cirstea vs 3 Aleksandra Wozniack

***

Photo: Dinara Safina wins Rome '09 - Reuters

Stuttgart WTA: Friday's Results

Quarterfinal Results

Shahar Peer d Dinara Safin - 63 62

Not to worry Dina, it's gonna take a couple tourneys.

WC Justine Henin d 4 Jelena Jankovic - 36 76(4) 63

Is this the beginning of the journey to a 5th Roland Garros title?

7/WC Samanatha Stosur d Li Na - 63 63

Suddenly Stosur seems like a real threat Paris.

Q Anna Lapushchenkova d Lucie Safarova - 76(1) 16 61

I got nothin'.

Photo: Getty Images

Stuttgart WTA: Thursday's Results

Injured Dinara Safina returns with a win - though a struggle, she won. Phew.

I told Ms. Wozniacki it was too soon to come back. Rest your ankle girl.

SECOND ROUND

Lucie Safarove d 1 Caroline Wozniacki - 64 64
2 Dinara Safina (above) d Agnes Szavay - 76(5) 36 60
4 Jelena Jankovic d Q Tsvetana Pironkova - 62 62
Q Anna Lapushchenkova d 6 Victoria Azarenka - 63 63
7/WC Samantha Stosur d Alexandra Dulgheru - 36 60 62
WC Justine Henin d 8 Yanina Wickmayer - 63 75

Photo: Getty Images

Dinara Safina Celebrates 24th Birthday in Stuttgart

Anke Huber from the German Tennis Fed presented Dinara with a bday cake.

Dinara will begin play in Stuttgart against the winner of Szavay/Petkovic.

Dinara has not played since retiring in the 4th round at the Australian Open.

Hopefully her back is fully healed and she can play some good tennis again.

***

Remember Anke Huber?

She was a German player who found solid success throughout the 90's.

In '96 she was runner-up to Monica Seles at the Australian Open.

Anke won 12 career WTA titles and enjoyed a ranking high of #4.

Photos: Getty Images

Serena Williams Joins List of Players to Withdraw from Miami

 

Serena Williams - Left knee has kept her out of action since winning the AO.

Juan Martin Del Potro - US Open champ out with a nagging right wrist injury.

Maria Sharapova - Bruised her right elbow bow last week in Indian Wells.

Dinara Safina - The back injury that doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Nikolay Davydenko - Left wrist injury - I think I heard it was broken.

Photo: Reuters - Serena at an Oscar party.

Dinara Safina Pulls Out of Next Week's Event in Dubai

Something tells me this back injury is going to linger for awhile longer.

From Dinara's website: "Unfortunately, I will not be able to play this year because of the back injury that's been bothering me since the end of last season."

Here's hoping she is well enough to see me in Indian Wells.

Monday Rankings: Rafael Nadal Slips to #4 in the World

This is pretty seismic folks.

Not being able to defend his title in Australia and getting dumped in the quarterfinals has cost Rafael Nadal dearly as he drops from #2 to #4 in the rankings. Except for 3 weeks last August '09 Rafa has been in the top 2 since July 25, 2005 and during that time he spent 40 weeks at #1.

If Rafa doesn't return to the tour soon and in title winning form straight away it'll get worse before it gets better. He has a tons of points to defend between now and the French Open; if he can't deliver Del Potro and Davydenko will also leap over him. Won't that make for a potentially interesting draw at Roland Garros, no?

Rafa's fall to #4 means that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray move past him marking career highs for them at #'s 2 and 3 respectfully. Also making his debut in the top 10 for the first time is Marin Cilic, he slips in at #10 and many tennis insiders feel he will reside within the top 10 for many years to come.

Oh yea, like I need to mention it but Roger Federer is #1 and closing in on Pete Sampras' record of total weeks on top.

Over on the women's tour Serena Williams widens her lead at #1 over Dinara Safina while Caroline Wozniacki moves to a career high of #3.

Two other women enjoy career high marks as Victoria Azarenka moves up one to #6 and Li Na jumps seven to #10.

And what of Justine Henin? She isn't yet eligible for a ranking but crudely calculating the two runner-up finishes she has produced in her two tournaments back from retirement she would squeeze in somewhere around #40.

Photo: Reuters