The Bank of the West Classic began its amazing 40th edition on Monday and the most dramatic match came at the very end of the night, as Kimiko Date Krumm - who turns 40 in a few months - rallied to beat former No.1 Dinara in three sets, 46 76(0) 62.

Date Krumm, who defeated Dinara in the first round of the French Open in May to become the oldest player ever to beat a Top 10 player, lost five games in a row to fall behind 64 20, seemingly headed for a straight set departure. But the Japanese veteran didn’t let go, hanging tough with Dinara from the baseline and pouncing with a love tie-break, then easing through the decider in 35 minutes.

“In the important moments she played well,” said Safina, who was playing her first tournament since the week before Wimbledon. “It was my first match back from injury, so I’m pretty positive and will keep working hard to improve day by day. My back feels fine, and that is the most important thing.”

Dinara is scheduled to play again next week in San Diego.

Second-seeded Dinara was edged in the first round of the Unicef Open on Sunday by Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova, 67(4) 64 64.

Both players faced 11 break points during the two-and-a-half hour match. Rybarikova converted on five of her chances, Dinara three, enough to give the 21-year-old the necessary edge in the second and third sets of the tight match.

Dinara, a runner-up at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2006 and 2008, is now 2-1 in her career against Rybarikova.

Dinara’s 2010 Roland Garros experience came to an end Friday, as she and Agnes Szavay fell in the second round of doubles to sixth-seeded Cara Black and Elena Vesnina, 62 63.

Dinara’s next scheduled event is the UNICEF Open at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, which starts June 13. She has had a great deal of success there, reaching the final in 2006 and 2008 and the semifinals in 2007 and 2009.

Doubles Win For Dinara at French Open

Dinara shook off her first round singles loss at the French Open, pairing up with Agnes Szavay for a 61 61 rout of Klara Zakopalova and Riza Zalameda on Wednesday in the first round of the doubles event. In the second round, Dinara and Szavay will play sixth-seeded Cara Black and Elena Vesnina.

Dinara has reached the round of 16 in doubles at Roland Garros three times, but never further. Dinara and Szavay have won one Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title together, at Gold Coast in 2008. Of Dinara’s eight Tour doubles titles, one came at a Grand Slam, the 2008 US Open alongside Nathalie Dechy.

Dinara lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday to Kimiko Date Krumm, 36 64 75.

“First set I was pretty dominant,” Dinara said in her press conference. “Second set I was up a break. Third set I was 4-1 double-break up. I should have closed it out in two sets.”

Dinara said seeing Date Krumm struggle with cramping threw off her rhythm.

“I just started to look at her instead of thinking about what I was doing,” said Dinara, who was the runner-up here last year. “And then I just was thinking more about her than about myself and what I had to do. I lost the momentum.”

Dinara talked about recently splitting up with her coach, Zeljko Krajan.

“After Madrid I made the decision to stop,” said Dinara, who is now working with Argentine Gastón Etlis. “He did the best job that anybody could do with me. He brought me to No. 1 in the world. But I decided that I wanted to stop, and that’s it.”

Dinara said she is still optimistic about her future despite her recent struggles.

“I will not give up,” she said. “I will have to swallow this loss and keep on moving.  I was in the worst situations, and that’s life. After rain always comes sun. I will do my best.”

Dinara is not leaving Roland Garros yet, though, as she is in the doubles competition with Agnes Szavay.

Defending champ Dinara dropped a tight two-setter to qualifier Zakopalova, 76(1) 76(3), in the first round of the Madrileña Madrid Open on Monday.

Dinara jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but could not sustain it and served for the second set twice but also could not hold on, falling to 0-2 all-time against Zakopalova. Next up for the Czech is Aravane Rezai.

“The result today was about lack of match practice,” Dinara said. “I have hardly hit a ball in three months and you can’t really expect much when you have had no practice and no matches. I have to look ahead and get some matches.”

Dinara did win a doubles match, however, coming out on top in a match tie-break in the first round Sunday alongside Agnes Szavay over Hsieh Su-Wei and Akgul Amanmuradova. However, Dinara and Szavay later had to withdraw from the event because of a right thigh injury suffered by Szavay in singles action.

Dinara’s next scheduled event is Roland Garros in two weeks. She was the runner-up there last year.

Third-seeded Dinara dropped a tight match to Alexandra Dulgheru in 2 hours and 40 minutes in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Tuesday.

Dinara, the defending champ, rallied from a 4-0 first set deficit to knot the set at 4 before eventually coming up short. Then in the second set, she was twice two points from losing the match before rallying. However, Dulgheru was too strong in the third set and prevailed, 64 67(5) 61, to advance to the round of 16.

“Obviously this was very disappointing,” Dinara said. ”The third set was particularly difficult. After winning the second set, I was 5-0 down in a second. I don’t know if I was over-hitting or over-waiting. I don’t think I was moving my feet enough. I’m going to watch this match on video. I think the only good thing about this match was that my back didn’t create any problems.”

Dinara’s next event, her third one since returning to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after a three-month layoff because of her back injury, will be next week at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, where she is also the defending champ.

Dinara’s first event back on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour since a back injury caused her to miss several months came to an end Friday against Shahar Peer in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

The Israeli beat the second-seeded Dinara, 63 62, the fourth straight time she has come out on top in the series, after Dinara had won their first three meetings. Peer defeated fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the previous round.

“It was a good start,” Dinara said. “I was 3-1 up with a chance to go 4-1 up. I didn’t win that game, she won some points, I went a little bit down… I haven’t played many matches, that’s probably the cause. This was my first time playing points again, so to win my first match here is already not a bad result.”

Dinara will be back in action next week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where she is the No.3 seed and defending champion. 

Second Round Success in Stuttgart

Dinara first match back after a three month injury lay-off wasn’t clean, but like the fighter she has always been she made it through, beating Agnes Szavay at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Dinara, seeded No.2 with a first round bye, drew Szavay in the second round. Szavay had been a giant-killer in the past, beating eight Top 10 players in her young career - including two wins over world No.3s. Facing the No.3-ranked Dinara, she came out on fire, storming out to a 4-1 lead on the strength of two breaks; Dinara fought back and took the set in a tie-break, but Szavay retaliated.

“There was no reason to panic for me,” Dinara said about losing the second set. “She won 12 points in a row. I just needed to put two balls in the court.”

That’s when Dinara turned into the player who spent 26 weeks at No.1 last year, taking the third set at love. She won, 76(5) 36 60.

“It’s nice to win easily but it’s also good to have a tough match,” Safina said. “At least I’m back on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Some people would have fear after such a long time injured but I had no fear. I was moving okay.”

Things will likely not get any easier for Dinara, as up next is Shahar Peer, who has won their last three meetings. Peer is also in form this week, taking out another seed - No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska - in the previous round.

On her emotions during the lay-off: “I saw what I would be doing without tennis. I can’t sit at home or stay in one place; it’s just not me. You miss the adrenaline, the competition, the nerves before a match… every athlete misses this. I’m still full of energy and desire to play tennis. Hopefully, I can play many more years.”

On coming back this week: “This will be my first tournament after being out of competition for about three months, and it will be the first big test for my back. I’ve been practicing here and I’m feeling good physically, and it’s not bothering me at all. Let’s hope my back problems are done for good.”

On her expectations: “I don’t have any. I can’t come in here and say I’m going to win it. All of these tournaments in the next few weeks, it’s all a test. Doesn’t matter how I hit or where I hit the ball - just standing on the court, I’m happy.”

Seven Top 10 players have descended on Stuttgart this week for the only indoor clay court tournament on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Dinara is one of those seven, as she is making her much-anticipated return to the circuit after being out of action since the Australian Open.

Dinara, who spent more weeks at No.1 last year than anyone else on Tour (26 weeks), retired in the fourth round in Melbourne with a back injury and has been sidelined with the ailment ever since, pulling out of Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami - but now, at the first Premier-level clay court event of the year, she is back. As the No.2 seed and after a first round bye she will face off with Agnes Szavay or Andrea Petkovic.

Dinara’s best-ever result in Stuttgart happened last year, when she went all the way to the final before falling to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

All this time I’ve been here in Croatia, it’s been very nice and the people are very friendly and they always want to help. I’m really enjoying it here.

During all this time I was doing a lot of biking. This was the only thing i could do to stay in shape! I was doing some shoulder and leg exercise too, so I wasn’t on the hotel bed all the time!

During this time time to entertain myself I was watching Desperate Housewifes!! I love them!!!! And I also red the book from Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol. It’s a really amazing book!!!!

And now I’m reading from Dostoevsky Crime and Prime. Also very, very interesting!!!

Well now at least I started slowly to practice, so I’m much happier being on court, and I hope that you’ll see me soon!!!

Also as I had more time I was learning how to cook!!! I really enjoy doing it, and from what I’ve cooked so far, nobody got sick, so that’s good news. However, if they liked it or not, you better ask them ;-))

In Australia I bought two books from Julia Child and I cooked mille feuille. My mother tried it and she liked it. I also did tiramisu. My parents LOVE my carrot cake. I love doing desserts, but it’s a pity I didn’t get to try  any of them yet, as I’m keeping to my diet, and I also promissed my team that from the 28th  of October until my birthday I won’t eat any sweets or chocolate. I did this because I was a little bit overweight by the end of the year, but it was the most stupid idea that I could ever come up with. Because many times I’m lying in my hotel bed and thinking about the HUGE chocolate cake I’ll eat for my birthday!! I don’t like chocolate so much, but i love chocolate muffin or cakes!!! So after my birthday, if you see me with a small belly, it means that i really enjoyed my birthday!!! Just joking!!!

Well that’s all for now. I miss all of you guys. Cross your fingers for me and you’ll see me soon.

Dinara