Dinara Safina: What was and what might have been
Dinara Safina downplayed her brother's announcement from last week that she was retiring, but the horse is clearly out of the barn for the former No. 1 who has been plagued by injury problems for the past two years.
Regardless of when Safina announces, her rollercoaster ride of a career shows just how tough it is to make it to the top and stay there, and just how fleeting fame and success can be.
Safina was just another player until 2004 when she reached the Paris semifinals and jumped 20 places in the rankings to No. 31. She took another huge step forward in 2005, winning Paris for her first WTA title, knocking out No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the Moscow quarterfinals and finishing the season 36-20, ranked 20th in the world.
Her next four years were an express ride to the top of the women's tennis world. Jumping to 11th by the end of a 44-21 2006; finished 15th in 2007 at 43-22; then took off in 2008, winning Berlin with wins over three top 10 players - including #1 Justine Henin. She reached the French Open final by defeating No. 1 Sharapova; won Los Angeles and Montreal in back-to-back weeks, took the silver medal at the Olympics; reached the US Open semifinals and won Tokyo to finish No. 3 in the world with a 55-20 record.
In 2009, Safina became the first player to ever achieve the No. 1 ranking without a Grand Slam title on her resume, but she hardly needed it - reaching the finals of the Australian and French Opens; winning Rome and Madrid back to back and falling in the WImbledon semifinals. She maintained the No. 1 ranking for nearly seven months before finishing the year No. 2.
As quickly as the fame came, the injury followed for Safina. A back injury plagued her throughout 2010 as she lost five striaght first-round matches between May and August, missed Wimbledon due to injury and dropped to 70th in the world by mid-August before finishing 50th.
She had the same number of losses (16) in 2010 as in 2009, but her win total dropped from 55 to 13.
This past season, Safina learned the hard way that no opponent is more frustrating and difficult to overcome than one's one body .The back injury - an L5 S1 disc herniation - brought with it pain, numbness and discomfort that starts in the lower back and travels to the glutes, legs and feet. While the injury is treatable, treating it to the point of being able to play championship-level professional tennis for 11 months a year.
Safina took 12 career singles and nine career doubles titles, won more than $10.5 million in prize money and won 68% of her matches as a pro. But despite all of her success, she is close to retirement at age 25 and will join the likes of James Blake and Monica Seles as the ones we always wonder what their true potential might have been, had fate not been so darn fickle.
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Nick on
10/12/2011 6:44:26 AM
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