Dinara Safina

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**Dinara Safina**

Country	Russia
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Date of birth	April 27, 1986
Place of birth	Moscow, Russia
Height	5 ft. 11 1/2 in. (1.82 m)
Weight	154 1/2 lbs. (70 kg)
Turned Pro	2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career Prize Money	$1,627,770
Singles
Career record:	177-87
Career titles:	4
Highest ranking:	No. 10 (October 2, 2006)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3rd (2004)
French Open	QF (2006)
Wimbledon	3rd (2005, 2006)
U.S. Open	QF (2006)
Doubles
Career record:	103-63
Career titles:	4
Highest ranking:	No. 15 (September 11, 2006)
Infobox last updated on: September 11, 2006.

Dinara Safina, is a Russian professional tennis player of tatar origins. She was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia), where she currently lives. She is the younger sister of tennis player Marat Safin.

1 Tennis Career
2 Titles
3 External links

[edit] Tennis Career

On July 29, 2002, she entered into the top 100. In the same year, she defeated a top 20 player (Silvia Farina Elia) for the first time, at the age of 16.

On July 14, 2003, she broke into the top 50. In that season as well, she reached fourth round at the 2003 US Open.

At the 2004 Australian Open, Safina upset Amanda Coetzer of South Africa before losing to Kim Clijsters of Belgium.

Partnering Elena Dementieva, she won the decisive doubles rubber in the Fed cup final in 2005. She stunned World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the QF of the 2005 Kremlin Cup, winning 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

In 2006 she reached the prestigious Rome Masters final by defeating top 10 players Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and was beaten only by resurgent Martina Hingis.

At the 2006 French Open, Safina reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career. In the fourth round, she beat number four seed Maria Sharapova (7-5, 2-6, 7-5). In the third set, she trailed 1-5 (two breaks of serve) but managed to pull the upset after almost 2^1/2 hours of play.

To kick off the grass season, following her strong performance on clay, she reached her first grass court final at the Ordina Open, losing to Michaella Krajicek, 3-6, 4-6.

During the 2006 US Open, she again managed to reach a quarterfinal, this time losing soundly to Amelie Mauresmo. This time, however, Safina didn't meet a seeded player until the quarter. She met larger success in doubles, where she reached the final with partner Katarina Srebotnik.

[edit] Titles

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tour Championships (0)
WTA Tour (4)

[edit] Singles (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	Jul 27, 2002	Sopot, Poland	Clay	Henrieta Nagyová (Slovakia)	6-3 4-0 RET
2.	Jul 13, 2003	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)	6-3 6-4
3.	Feb 13, 2005	Paris, France	Hard	Amélie Mauresmo (France)	2-6 7-6 6-4
4.	15 May 2005	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Zuzana Ondrášková (Czech Republic)	7-6(2) 6-3