Dinara lost to No.24 seed Daniela Hantuchova, 63 64, in first round action Monday at the US Open.

Dinara started off in a 5-1 hole and rallied to make a set of it, but the Slovakian held her off. The second set was close the whole way, with Hantuchova scoring the decisive break at 3-3.

Dinara had just beaten the Slovakian in the second round of New Haven last week. The career series between the two now stands at 6-4 in favor of Dinara, whose best result at the US Open is a semifinal showing in 2008.

Dinara had to withdraw from the doubles event because of a concussion suffered by her partner, Victoria Azarenka.

Maria Kirilenko got past Dinara, 63 63, in the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale on Thursday afternoon.

Nevertheless, it’s been an impressive couple of weeks for Dinara, having won consecutive matches in Montreal last week and New Haven this week. She hadn’t done that in any event since the Australian Open, where coincidentally enough, she also fell to Kirilenko. The career series between the two is now tied at two matches apiece.

The draw for next week’s US Open was also revealed Thursday, and in another coincidence, Dinara opens against No.24 seed Daniela Hantuchova, who she just beat on Wednesday in the second round of New Haven.

Safina Handles Hantuchova

Dinara edged Daniela Hantuchova, 76(4) 76(2), on Wednesday at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale to advance to her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour quarterfinal since Stuttgart in April.

Dinara, who raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set tie-break to all but clinch the match, is now 6-3 all-time against Hantuchova, having won four in a row. She has also upped her record for the year to 11-11, including 4-1 in her last five matches.

“I’m just trying to do things a little better in each match,” said Dinara, who next plays fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko. “I played a good match today. I’m feeling better and better.”

Safina Scores Win Over Schiavone

Just four days after losing to her in the third round of the Rogers Cup in in Montréal, Dinara got a chance for revenge against Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale on Monday night.

Dinara, who accepted a wildcard into this event, shook off a poor first set, racing out to a 5-2 lead in the second and a 3-0 lead in the third en route to a 16 63 61 victory over the third-seeded Italian.

Dinara, whose ranking rose from No. 70 to No.59 in the wake of her strong performance last week, now has a 4-3 edge over Schiavone in their career series. She next plays Daniela Hantuchova.

Sixth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone beat Dinara, 64 63, Thursday night in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montréal.

Dinara had a 4-2 lead in the first set but was unable to maintain her momentum, falling to 3-3 all-time against Schiavone. Nevertheless, it was an impressive week for her, as she won consecutive matches for the first time since January.

Dinara will play again next week in New Haven, where she has accepted a wild card into the last Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event before the US Open.

Dinara Into Round of 16 at Rogers Cup

Dinara rallied past fellow Russian and No.18 seed Nadia Petrova, 75 46 64, in dramatic fashion in the second of the Rogers Cup on Wednesday.

After splitting the first two sets, Dinara started the third in a 1-4 hole, but reeled off five straight games to win her second straight clash with Petrova after losing the first five. Next up for her is No.6 seed Francesca Schiavone.

“She’s the French Open champion,” Dinara said. “She is playing good. There are no easy ones for me right now. My ranking is low, so every match will be tough. I will go out there and do my best and try to play better than I played today. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Dinara said she is satisfied with the way her body held up Wednesday.

“This was a nice test for me, for my back, for everything,” she said. “I am really happy with the work of my team. I was able to play two hours, 14 minutes in a high intensity match.”

Dinara commented on her rigorous pre-match routine.

“Every morning, I spend about two hours just focusing on the abdominals and stretching,” she said. “Honestly, I love this game. There is nothing else but tennis, so I guess I am a little different from my brother. I enjoy this sport and as long as I enjoy this sport, I will give 100% of myself. And when I finish my career, I will know I gave it my all.”

Straight Set Win in Montréal

Dinara recorded an impressive first round victory at the Rogers Cup in Montréal on Monday, defeating Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, 63 63.

“I felt the support as soon as I walked on the court,” said Dinara, who was playing Petkovic for the first time. “I hope I get to play more matches on Centre Court.”

Dinara, whose best showing at this event in five previous appearances is a title in 2008, will next play the winner of Tuesday’s match between No.18 seed Nadia Petrova and Lucie Safarova.

Dinara, fully healthy again, said she certainly feels like a better player than her ranking of No.70 indicates.

“Well, Petkovic is 36th, and I beat her, so I guess I can be 35,” she said.

Fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters defeated Dinara in the second round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open, 75 62, on Wednesday night.

Dinara, who beat Clijsters in the quarterfinals here last year, had her chances to win her third straight in the series, going up 4-2 in the first set and 2-0 in the second. 

“Today’s match wasn’t bad. It was very solid. She played better in the crucial moments,” said Dinara, who is now 2-7 all-time against Clijsters. “I need to continue to try and play as many matches as I can. I will keep working hard day by day and I feel my game is getting better. Last year I had a hundred matches; now I’m still coming back, since Stuttgart.”

Dinara said she is encouraged by her performance in Cincinnati.

“The game is getting better,” she said. “I’m feeling like it’s not anymore the disaster that it was.  So this is the positive thing. Everything is solid, so now I just have to continue to work hard to make some adjustments.” 

Dinara is playing again next week in Montreal and said a hip injury that plagued her this week will not affect her US Open plans.

Strong Start In Cincinnati

The first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open kicked off in Cincinnati on Monday and last year’s runner-up, Dinara, was among those making it through to the next round.

Dinara, who was ranked No.1 in the world here a year ago but lost to Jelena Jankovic in straight sets in the title match, made a winning start to her 2010 campaign at the $2-million tournament, edging Roberta Vinci, 75 64.

Dinara showed flashes of the fighting spirit that has taken her to three Grand Slam finals, rallying from 3-5 to win the first set and escaping a 15-40 hole serving at 3-4 to win the second set and put the crafty Italian away, her fifth win in five career matches in the series. 

In the second round Dinara will play No.4 seed Kim Clijsters, who got a first round bye. Clijsters made her comeback to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour here last year, falling to Dinara in the quarterfinals. The Russian has won their last two meetings, though Clijsters leads the all-time series, 6-2.

Dinara Safina, wasn’t able to make it through to the quarterfinals at the Mecury Insurance Open in San Diego, losing to No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in 66 minutes on Wednesday, 61 63.

Dinara had won both their previous meetings in straight sets and looked like she was making a late surge, closing Radwanska’s 61 51 lead to 61 53, and holding two points for 61 54; but in the end it was to no avail against the Pole.

“The match was closer than the score looked. I’m really happy with this win,” Radwanska said afterwards.

Dinara is scheduled to play next week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, where she was runner-up to Jelena Jankovic last year.

Strong Start in San Diego

Dinara snapped a six-match losing streak with a 61 76(2)win over Alona Bondarenko Monday night at the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego.

Dinara fell behind in the second set and twice came within two points of losing the set serving at 4-5 and 5-6, but she held on for to up her record to 6-8 in 2010 and 2-1 all-time against Bondarenko.

Dinara will play the winner of fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and Chanelle Scheepers in the round of 16. She has not gone beyond the round of 16 in her previous three appearances at this event.

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.