Dinara Safina to supplant Serena at No. 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—Dinara Safina (dee-NAR-ah sah-FEEN-ah) will overtake Serena Williams for the No. 1 ranking in tennis later this month.

The WTA Tour says Wednesday that Safina will rise to No. 1 for the first time in her career in the April 20 rankings.

Safina is the younger sister of former No. 1 Marat (Ma-RAT) Safin. They are the first brother-sister duo to be No. 1. She will become the 19th woman—and second Russian—to top the WTA rankings.

Safina was the runner-up at the 2008 French Open to Ana Ivanovic and at the 2009 Australian Open to Williams.

Dinara Safina on her first match of Ordina Open 2008. Playing on the Centre Court against Pauline Parmentier. Dinara wins the match with 6-4 6-1

Dinara Safina at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida. Image taken by ShawnnaLea Zemanek.

Dinara Safina - 2009 BNP Paribas Open

Dinara Safina at the 2009 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

with elena dementieva picture courtesy of nick

Safina officially takes over No. 1 women’s ranking

LONDON (AP)—Dinara Safina officially took over the top ranking on the WTA Tour on Monday, making her and older sibling Marat Safin the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis.

Safina, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title but twice reached a major final, is the 19th woman to top the rankings since they were introduced in 1975. She is also only the second Russian woman after Maria Sharapova to reach No. 1.

Safina replaced Serena Williams at the top, even though the American beat her in the Australian Open final this year. Last year, Safina lost to Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final.

Marat Safin was ranked No. 1 on the men’s tour in 2000, the same year he won the first of two Grand Slam singles titles.

“He has two Grand Slams,” Safina said of her brother in a video posted on the WTA’s Web site. “He’s still much better than me, so I have to catch him.”

Safina won four titles last year.

Dinara Safina celebrates birthday and No. 1

STUTTGART, Germany (AP)—Now that she has the No. 1 ranking she’s craved, Dinara Safina is looking ahead to her next goal of winning a Grand Slam tournament.

Safina turned 23 on Monday and received a pink cake from the organizers of the Porsche Grand Prix, her first tournament since she became the No. 1 a week ago.

“I try to celebrate every time I have a chance,” the Russian said. “But I am working very hard to win a Grand Slam, that’s my next target. I feel like I can do it. I’ve been in two finals. I have not finished my mission in tennis.”

Safina is the 19th woman to top the rankings since they were introduced in 1975. She is also only the second Russian woman after Maria Sharapova to reach No. 1.

Safina replaced Serena Williams at the top, even though the American beat her in the Australian Open final this year. Last year, Safina lost to Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final.

She and her and older sibling Marat Safin are the only brother-sister duo to have been No. 1 in professional tennis.

Safina said the turning point in her career came last year in Berlin, when she beat then-No. 1 Justine Henin and went on to win the tournament—which has disappeared from the WTA schedule. She also beat Serena Williams in that event.

Henin never played another match and retired soon afterward.

“Berlin changed everything,” said Safina, who was ranked No. 17 at the time.

Safina also credited coach Zeljko Krajan, a former Croatian pro, for helping to improve her game. Krajan became her coach late in 2007.

“He took me from No. 17 to No. 1. I was lucky I found the right person at the right time,” Safina said. “He opened my eyes, he said, ‘You have great shots. Use them.’

“Before, I thought I had the shots but I didn’t know how to use my weapons,” Safina added. “I got into the top 100 quickly but then I struggled there for a long time. When I was 20 I knew there was a lot left inside me and that dream of becoming No. 1 kept pushing me.”

Safina could have become No. 1 at the Australian Open, had she not lost to Williams. She then let several other opportunities slip away until she finally wrapped up the top ranking.

“I had it within my hands but when you have the pressure to win every match, you are not relaxed. Now I have it and I am relaxed. Sometimes you have to be patient,” Safina said. “But it’s going to be a challenge to remain No. 1 because everyone will want to beat me.”

Safina’s half of the draw includes Jelena Jankovic, the defending champion at the Porsche Grand Prix and another former No. 1 who has never won a Grand Slam title.

The tournament has been moved from October to April and is now played on indoor clay—the idea being that it will be used as warmup for the French Open. Six of the top 10 players are in the field, but Serena and Venus Williams have decided not to play.

I am glad Safina is now the number 1 player. Yes, the Williams are great fighters and players but I don't believe it for a minute that Serena is hurt. After her loss, she was seen and photographed in Miami wearing high wedged shoes...injured (foot, ankle whatever), I think not. She always has a great excuse for loosing rather than crediting the player that beat her.

STUTTGART, Germany (AP)—Top-ranked Dinara Safina and defending champion Jelena Jankovic won in straight sets on Thursday to remain on course to meet in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals.

Safina ended a three-match losing streak against Daniela Hantuchova by beating the Slovak 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

“We’ve had some close matches in the past but I played well today,” said the Russian, who evened her matchups against Hantuchova at 3-3.

Jankovic outlasted Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and will next play Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who won 6-2, 6-2 over sixth-seeded Nadia Petrova, the 2006 champion and 2008 runner-up.

If Safina beats eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in their quarterfinal, she could meet Jankovic, who started the year at No. 1, in the semis on Saturday.

Second-seeded Elena Dementieva overcame a slow start to beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary 7-6 (4), 6-1 and set up a quarterfinal against Marion Bartoli of France. Fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced.

Jankovic led 4-2 in the second set but couldn’t stop a comeback by the big-hitting Lisicki, who won her first WTA title in Charleston, South Carolina, two weeks ago.

Third-seeded Jankovic led again in the final set, but dropped serve from 4-2, 40-0. Lisicki, however, couldn’t hold her own in the next and Jankovic served out the match when Lisicki netted a return.

“She gave me a hard time,” Jankovic said. “She played real great, she was serving very hard. … She was hitting serves between (111 and 118 mph), and not many girls can do that. I am glad I got through the match.”

When Jankovic won Stuttgart last year, it was on a hard surface. She finished 2008 as the world No. 1 but went through a slump early this year after changing her fitness regime, but her game has improved since she moved to clay courts, including the title at Marbella this month.

Bartoli, a former Wimbledon runner-up, upset seventh-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-6 (6), 6-4 for the first time in four meetings.

Olympic champ Dementieva fell behind 4-1 before battling back to win the first set against Szavay. She cruised through the second, but then needed five match points to end it.

“I really had a slow start, it was tough to come back from 4-1 down,” Dementieva said. “I am still finding my feet on clay. It is my first tournament of the year (on clay) and my footwork needs to improve. It is just important to improve match by match, and make sure I am ready for the French Open.”

Fellow Russian Kuznetsova rallied to beat Li Na of China 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to set up a quarterfinal with Gisela Dulko of Argentina.

Radwanska beat Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3.