It didn’t come easily, but Dinara Safina won her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of the year on Sunday, defeating Sara Errani in a nail-biter for the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz.

Dinara, who had won her first two titles of the year at Premier-level events in Rome and Madrid during the clay court season, had solid scorelines in her first four matches at the International-level event, her grand total of games lost in eight straight sets being 17.

The top-seeded Russian was certainly pushed to the limit in the final by an in-form Errani, the fifth seed, who toughed out a 76-minute opening set and even served for the match at 5-4 in the third before finally going down to the world’s best player in seven minutes shy of three hours, 67(5) 61 75.

“After losing the first set, I started to play exactly how I had to. But then when I was up 2-0, 30-0 in the third set, suddenly I lost my game,” Dinara said. “I got tight. That’s why it was so complicated. When I won the match it was a relief. I really wanted it. These tough matches give you confidence and I hope with this I can go to the States and play my best tennis there.”

Dinara improved to 12-11 in Tour singles finals, including 3-4 in 2009. She is the second this year to win three Tour singles titles, after Victoria Azarenka (who has two International titles and one Premier title).

“It was very nice being here. I really enjoyed my stay,” Dinara added. “The tournament director did everything possible for me and the only way I could thank him was to win the title. The people here were treating me so nicely. I just wanted to give this back to them.” 

 

Dinara Advances to Portoroz Final

Dinara will face defending champ Sara Errani for the title Sunday at the Banka Koper Slovenia.

Dinara dominated the pair’s only previous meeting, at Stuttgart in May, but Errani is looking stronger than ever, if her 61 62 rout of Stefanie Voegele in Saturday’s semis is any indication.

Earlier, Dinara overcame an indifferent start and a dogged opponent in Alberta Brianti, a 29-year-old who, like the 19-year-old Voegele, was making her first appearance in a semifinal on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. But, while she was new to the occasion she had the maturity, confidence and crafty style to make Dinara work for her win, despite the 105-place gulf in rankings between the two.

The Italian was undoubtedly helped by Dinara’s unforced error count, which totaled 44 by the end of the match. Having built a commanding lead in the first set, Dinara allowed Brianti to break back, and the same thing happened in the second. After a game that went to deuce 10 times Dinara broke Brianti, but the Italian responded by snapping her illustrious opponent’s serve at love.

Still, it was not enough, and after 95 minutes of play Dinara through to her seventh final of the year.

“I had a lot of chances to finish the match more easily,” the Russian admitted. “I think I slowed down at some important moments but overall I’m happy that I could win.”

 

Dinara Through to Final Four in Portoroz

Dinara continues to roll through the Banka Koper Slovenia Open without dropping a set, as she eased past Maria Elena Camerin, 63 60, on Friday.

Although she carried a 3-1 record into the clash with the Italian, the ease of Dinara’s win was a bit surprising in that three of the previous matches had been extended to a third set.

Dinara, who converted on all five of her break point opportunities, will face another Italian, Alberta Brianti, in Saturday’s semis. They have never played before.

 

No Problems in Round 2 in Portoroz

Top seed Dinara cruised past 18-year-old qualifier Ksenia Pervak, 61 62, on Wednesday in second round action at the $220,000 Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz, Slovenia.

Dinara converted on five of seven break point opportunities en route to victory over her fellow Russian.

Dinara will play Marina Elena Camerin, whom she has a 3-1 record against, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

 

Safely Through to Round 2 in Slovenia

Dinara got off to a fast start before being challenged a bit by 18-year-old Slovenian wildcard Tadeja Majeric in the first round of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz on Monday.

The top-seeded Russian, playing for the first time since her semifinal loss to Venus Williams at Wimbledon, won 20 of 21 points on her first serve in the 60 64 victory, her first-ever match-up with Majeric.

In addition to this hardcourt event, which she is playing for the first time, Dinara is scheduled to play in Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Toronto in preparation for the US Open.

After a week’s well-earned rest, world No.1 Dinara hit the practice courts in Portoroz in earnest on Saturday morning. The day before, there had been time for a short cruise on the glistening waters of the Adriatic with Slovenian star Katarina Srebotnik, before the pair traded shots on a makeshift mini-court in the main square of the historic coastal town of Piran. But the time to get serious had come.

By virtue of her ranking status Dinara is, of course, the top seed at this week’s Banka Koper Slovenia Open, an International series event offering prize money of $220,000. Having won the Premier-level trophies at Rome and Madrid and been runner-up at Sydney and Stuttgart as well as the French Open, she sat down with the press looking refreshed and ready to target a 12th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title in the next seven days.

“I’ve heard a lot of nice things about Portoroz,” said the 23-year-old Russian, who arrived in town with a 42-9 win-loss record so far this season and is entering her 14th week in the top spot. “My coach Zeljko Krajan spoke well about the tournament, but the other girls are excited as well. I get along well with Katarina and she explained to me that it’s a great tournament in a great town. It fits well in my competition schedule, so I decided to come.”

And, so far, so good: “I’m amazed because I’ve never been here and it’s a beautiful place! There’s everything I need: the courts are good, the beach is close and the food is great.”

The Weeks Ahead

The courts are naturally the critical factor as Dinara prepares her assault on the US Open, where she made the semis last year.

Indeed, while Dinara’s rise from Top 20 stalwart to world No.1 began on the clay courts of Berlin, she really hit her stride on the hard courts of North America last summer. She easily won the US Open Series, capturing titles at Los Angeles and Montréal, and before heading to Flushing Meadows won a silver medal at the Olympics.

By the end of the season she had won her ninth Tour singles title at Tokyo and propelled herself to No.2 in the rankings. Having entered Berlin a lackluster 11-10 for the season, she duly went 44-7 and scored 12 Top 10 wins along the way - including three sparkling defeats of reigning world No.1s (Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic), a Tour first in a single year.

In that context, Portoroz provides Dinara an early opportunity to acclimatize to the last major surface change of calendar in Europe, before heading to the US where she is scheduled to play in Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Toronto before heading to New York.

Another perk is that, as well as Krajan and physical trainer Ronen Bega, both of Dinara’s parents are able to join her at the tournament.

“My mom is here already and my father will come in two or three days, so I get to spend some time with them,” a smiling Dinara said.

Playing To Win

Nonetheless, Dinara will be all business once main draw action gets underway. Over the past 12 months or so, hard work has transformed her into a lean, mean fighting machine with devastating groundstrokes and a renewed ability to tough out matches mentally. Quite simply, she does justice to her talent by treating each tournament as though her life depends on it; since that fateful week in Berlin she has fallen before the quarters just four times, a tremendously consistent effort.

Happy to have reached the semis at Wimbledon having never previously been past the third round, Dinara is still eyeing a bigger prize. And, as she bids to win her first Grand Slam title after three runner-up finishes - twice at Roland Garros and at the Australian Open in January - she knows that time is on her side, for now.

Kim Clijsters became No.1 on August 11, 2003, but only won her sole Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2005. Likewise, Amélie Mauresmo ascended to No.1 on September 13, 2004 but didn’t win her first Grand Slam until the Australian Open in January 2006, at the age of 25.

As it did for those two hugely respected champions, Dinara’s moment shall surely come. As she noted after Wimbledon, “Yes, I haven’t won one yet, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Time will tell whether Portoroz goes down in history as the low-key first step of a perfect preparation.

Venus Williams put an end to Dinara’s career-best Wimbledon fortnight with a 61 60 victory in Thursday’s semifinals to set up another all-Williams final.

Dinara’s record against the five-time Wimbledon champ and No.3 seed fell to 1-3.

“It’s not my favorite surface and it’s her favorite surface, so she was just honestly too good today,” said Dinara.

Dinara explained how the surface favored Williams.

“The way she plays, she has the ball and she goes straight for the winner,” said Dinara. “She puts you from the first point under pressure. Me, I need a little bit of time. I need to create the point. Here I have no time for this. So this is a little bit different.”

Dinara can take solace in the fact that she’s now been to the semis in each of the four Grand Slams. Also, regardless of what happens in the final, she’ll continue to be the No.1-ranked player in the world.

Dinara said next year she plans to practice more on the grass before Wimbledon instead of playing in an event after Roland Garros.

“Hopefully I can change a little bit my mind and change my mentality on grass and come in with a different expectation next year,” said Dinara.

   

Dinara Secures Wimbledon Semifinal Berth

Dinara advanced to her first Wimbledon semifinal Tuesday by rallying past German 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki, 67(5) 64 61.

Dinara overcame 15 double faults, including one on set point against her in the tie-breaker. She broke Lisicki four times in the third set and converted her first match point when the German missed a backhand wide.

“I never got so far, so I’m really happy,” the top-seeded Dinara said. ”But, I’m enjoying this, taking it one match at a time, and at the moment it’s working.”

Dinara touched on her serving issues.

“If I would work on my mental game, I would not serve 250 double faults today,” Dinara said. “Because it’s just my brain sometimes doesn’t do the things that I have to do. ”

Dinara, who evened her record against Lisicki at 1-1, will next play five-time Wimbledon champion and No.3 seed Venus Williams, who routed No.11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 61 62. Williams has won two of her three encounters with Dinara, however, the top-ranked Russian was victorious in the most recent clash on clay in Rome in May.

“Definitely this is her best surface,” said Dinara. “She loves playing here in Wimbledon. You know, I just want to go out there. I have nothing to lose. You know, go out there, play the way I can play.  You know, I played her in Rome and I beat her in Rome. So I know what she’s doing. I know her weapons. I have my weapons.  So I just want to go out there, play my best, and let’s see.”

 

Dinara Reaches First Wimbledon Quarterfinal

Dinara, who had never been beyond the third round in six previous main draw apperances at the All-England Club, reached the quarterfinals with a dramatic 46 63 64 win over No.17 seed and 2006 Wimbledon champ Amélie Mauresmo on Monday.

The top-seeded Russian, who raised her record to 3-4 against the Frenchwoman, had to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the third set. She also trailed 4-3, 40-15 later in the set before staging another valiant comeback.

“I played my best to win this match, so I’m really happy,” Dinara said.

When rain fell in the second set, Dinara and Mauresmo became the first duo to play with the new Centre Court roof closed.

“It was a really nice atmosphere to play under the roof, because somehow you feel the crowd a little bit more,” Dinara said. “Even the crowd also wanted the roof, so it was an unbelievable atmosphere on the court.”

Dinara, who said her knee tendinitis continues to improve, will next face the unseeded Sabine Lisicki, who notched her second straight Top 10 upset, following up her third round win over No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova with a 64 64 victory over No.9 seed Caroline Wozniacki. Lisicki won her only previous meeting with Dinara, in three sets in the first round of last year’s Australian Open.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Dinara. “Day to day I’m feeling better and better, enjoying more and more playing on grass.”

 

Dinara Reaches Round of 16 for First Time

Dinara survived a tight first set in which she had a set point against her, then rolled past 23-year-old Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, 75 61, on Saturday to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time. She previously lost in the third round in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

In what was Dinara’s first meeting with Flipkens, she showed signs that she’s hitting her stride.

“Even like when I hit in practice, I’m feeling every day more and more comfortable,” Dinara said. “So let’s see how far I can enjoy the grass.”

On Monday Dinara will face 2006 Wimbledon champ Amélie Mauresmo. She has won only two of six career matches against the 29-year-old Frenchwoman, who is seeded 17th.

“This year she’s playing very good,” Dinara said of Mauresmo. “I think she’s back in her best shape. She likes playing on grass.”

Dinara said her play is backing up her No.1 ranking.

“I’m consistently there,” Dinara said. “I’m sure one day I will get the Grand Slam and nobody can talk anymore that I’m No. 1 without a Grand Slam.”

 

A Win Away From Best Career Wimbledon

Dinara was tested but got past 33-year-old Rossana de los Ríos, 63 75, Thursday in the second round of Wimbledon.

The No.1 seed, who said her knee felt better than in her first round match, never faced a break point against the Paraguayan, whom she now has a 2-0 record against.

Dinara has never been past the third round at the All-England Club, but will get her chance Saturday against her good friend, 23-year-old Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. She expects to have her hands full.

“She’s a great player,” Dinara said of Flipkens. “She has great hands.  She has great potential.”

However, Dinara likes her chances to advance.

“Definitely I’m feeling better this year than previous years, so hopefully this year I can get through,” Dinara said.

 

Dinara Through to Round 2

Dinara, who has been ranked No.1 since April 20 and is the top seed at Wimbledon despite never making it beyond the third round, was shaky in her first round match Tuesday but managed to get past Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 75 63.

The powerful Russian, who admitted she is being troubled by knee tendinitis, hit more unforced errors than winners, 30 to 28, but was able to raise her record against the tenacious Spaniard to 4-0. The previous three matches were all on clay; all four were in straight sets.

Dinara talked after the match about her continued pursuit of her first Grand Slam singles title.

“My dream was to become No. 1 as a kid,” Dinara said. “And now it’s to hold a trophy from the Grand Slam, so it’s another of my big dreams.”

Next up for Dinara is 33-year-old Rossana de los Ríos, whom she defeated in their only match in 2003.