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| The tall and strong Russian had a tremendous May through September 2008 stretch, winning four titles and reaching the French Open and Olympics finals. The question for the ultra powerful 22-year-old is not how much she wants it – she doesn’t quit on herself anymore – but whether she can overcome her nerves deep in tournaments. So far, she’s only shown that ability outside of the major’s final rounds. It's up to Safina to prove that she can go one better. | Back in 2003, when the Russian broke into the top 20 for the first time and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros, where she upset Venus Williams, she looked like a top-5 player to be. But the introverted and very emotional ball machine hit the wall once the spotlight shone on her, often breaking down in tears in the middle of matches. Injuries also affected her, but last year she returned as a more mature and lethal player and ended the year ranked No. 7. She’s reached her first Slam semifinal and is a top 5 threat once again, but does she have the nerve to go one better? | |
| Some decent play at the Hopman Cup was followed up by much better form in Sydney, where she went down to Elena Dementieva in the final. After that loss, she called herself, “stupid.” Here, she played smarter and more aggressively against Elena Makarova and Kaia Kanepi, but then after fighting off two match points against Alize Cornet, took herself to task, saying that she played stupidly again and lacked aggression.But she was ferocious when it mattered in her difficult three-set win over Aussie favourite Jelena Dokic and showed mental fortitude while the crowd was trying to lift her opponent. | Last year, she cracked the top 10 for the first time, 2008 winning titles at Prague and Guangzhou and reaching six other finals, including the Tour Championships, where she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva. Here, the directed groundstroker has been more than composed and absolutely schooled the red-hot Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. | |
| Because she’s more fit, she’s better balanced, more patient and doesn’t tire as easily. Safina hits a heavy ball off both wings, has an excellent first serve and fights like hell, witness her performance at last year’s French Open, where she fought off match points against Maria Sharapova and Dementieva en route to the final, and then her gutsy performance against Jelena Dokic in the Australian Open quarterfinals. | When she’s feeling good about herself, the Russian spits out hard groundstrokes like a hi-tech ball machine. Her two-handed backhand is deep and true, she can use heavy topspin on her forehand, or flatten it out. She places her serve well and is an excellent defensive player and has an admirable swing volley. But she doesn’t have an incredible amount of variety and occasionally loses faith when matches grow deep. | |
| Safina is an excellent attacking player who, by employing first strike tennis, can immediately dictate off her serve and return. Her defense has improved, too, but she’s much more confident when she’s taking huge cuts at the ball. After a shaky first four matches, she played more courageously against Dokic. Zvonareva likes to move inside the court early, so Safina has to get good first strikes on the ball. Even though she’s younger, she’s the more experienced big match player, so making her Fed Cup teammate feel the weight of the moment is also critical. | The key against Safina to is to launch at her early and often before she can get her long legs moving. Zvonareva can attack her if she serves very well and can get a fine read on her second serves. She also has to move her taller foe before attempting to go for sharply angled forehands crosscourt. Most importantly, she has to keep calm in her first Slam semifinal. | |
| Safina leads the rivalry 5-4, but Zvonareva won all three meetings last year on hardcourts. | |
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