The draw for the US Open draw was released Thursday, and top seed Dinara will face 18-year-old Australian Olivia Rogowska in the first round. The winner of that will play the winner of the Urszula Radwanska-Kristina Barrois match.

No.5 seed Jelena Jankovic is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Dinara, and No.4 seed Elena Dementieva could loom in the semis. Both Williams sisters are in the opposite half of the draw.

Dinara, who in Grand Slams this year lost in the final at the Australian Open and Roland Garros and the semis at Wimbledon, will be seeking her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year. Her semifinal showing here last year is her career-best result at the US Open. The last two years she has lost to the eventual champion, Justine Henin in 2007 and Serena Williams in 2008.

“New York is a special place for me,” Dinara said. “Particularly because it is where my brother won his first Grand Slam title in 2000. It would be wonderful to follow on his footsteps and also win my first ever Grand Slam title here. At the same time, winning this year would be my farewell gift to him, as this will be his last US Open before retiring from professional tennis at the end of the year.”

The tournament gets underway Monday. Dinara will remain the No.1 player in the world regardless of her finish in New York.

Twenty-two-year-old Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai upset top seed Dinara, 36 62 64, in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Wednesday.

“It was disastrous,” said Dinara, who was playing her last event before the US Open, which starts August 31. “I’m really disappointed, but you know, there’s a big tournament coming up in two weeks, so basically it’s tough to forget now, but hopefully tomorrow will be better and I’ll just get ready for the US Open.”

Rezai, who won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Strasbourg in May, took just one game from Dinara in their only previous match-up, at Roland Garros earlier this year.

Dinara, who was plagued by 17 double faults, won this event last year when it was in Montreal on the way to capturing the Olympus US Open Series.

“It’s not the serve,” she said. “It’s just my brain. I know exactly what I have to do, but if I’m not using my brain, I’m not doing the things that my coach is telling me.”

However, Dinara went on to give details about her serving woes.

“You need to write a book on what’s going on with my serve,” she said. “It’s a disaster. I don’t bend my legs, I’m jumping forward. I’m kicking it too much instead of hitting it more. Because I kick it so much the ball doesn’t fly anywhere and it goes in the middle of the net. I drop my head, I don’t hold the left arm. I know this and I’m still so stupid that I continue doing it.”

Jelena Jankovic made a triumphant return to the winner’s circle on Sunday afternoon, beating world No.1 Dinara, 64 62, to win the prestigious Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open title.

Jankovic, the No.5 seed at the $2-million, Premier-level tournament, had lost her two most recent encounters with Dinara, both on hardcourts and both last year, but this time she came out on top, grabbing the lone break of the first set in the third game of the match then building a 3-0 lead in the second set and never looking back. She collected her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year and the 11th of her career.

Dinara was playing her eighth final of the season and is now 3-5 in those. She is now 12-12 lifetime in finals.

“I was very confident stepping onto the court, but then I was just totally off,” Dinara said. “There were a few moments were I was starting to get into the match, but she was using some good shots and hitting very close to the lines, also down the lines. She played some great tennis today.”

 

Dinara Pummels Pennetta in Cincy Semis

Dinara routed 14th-seeded Flavia Pennetta, 62 60, in 56 minutes in semifinal action Saturday at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati.

Even though Pennetta was fresh off a title last week in Los Angeles and riding a 15-match win streak, the ease of the result wasn’t a huge surprise, considering Dinara was 6-0 all-time against the Italian prior to Saturday.

“That’s how it goes when you play top players,” said Dinara, who will be going after her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of 2009 on Sunday. ”Either you start to dominate or they dominate you.”

Dinara said her confidence has grown with each match she’s played this week.

“Every match I feel better,” she said. “Today, stepping on the court, I was feeling very good and confident.”

 

Dinara Conquers Clijsters in Cincinnati 

Dinara recorded an impressive 62 75 victory over comeback kid Kim Clijsters Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati.

Dinara has now beaten Clijsters just twice in eight career meetings, thought most of those clashes were early in the Russian’s career.

This was Clijsters’ first event back after a two-year absence from the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, and she had been on a roll, having knocked off No.12 seed Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder and No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, before encountering Dinara.

“Slowly I’m getting into the tournament,” Dinara said. “Sometimes it happens, like you have to play one match that’s kind of a disaster. You can’t put the ball inside, everything is flying, you don’t know what you’re doing on the court.  Somehow you manage to win the match. The next day you have the day off, then yesterday was a little bit better and today a completely different game. This is tennis.”

 

Dinara to Clash With Clijsters in Cincinnati

No.1 seed Dinara defeated Peng Shuai, 63 64, in third round action at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati on Thursday night.

Dinara, who will remain the No.1 player in the world at the start of the US Open regardless of her results between now and then, raised her career record to 3-1 against Peng, having now won three in a row in the series, including a victory in Indian Wells earlier this year.

Next up for Dinara is a Friday showdown with Kim Clijsters, who has reeled off three impressive wins this week in her first tournament back on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after a two-year absence. Dinara said she’s not surprised that the Belgian is already showing her old form.

“You cannot lose your talent,” Dinara said. “It is there. If you are a great player, it doesn’t matter. Give Sampras a racquet now and he will play exactly the same. Maybe she will be a little bit slower, but she’s still young. These players, I believe they don’t lose anything.”

 

Dinara Edges Vinci in Cincy

After receiving a first round bye, top seed Dinara was pushed to the brink of defeat in second round action Tuesday at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati. The Russian had to rally from deficits of 3-0 and 5-3 in the second set and 3-1 in the third to overcome Roberta Vinci, 26 75 64.

“I started pretty good, actually,” said Dinara, who is playing this event for the first time. “Two-love up, and to lose nine games in a row, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s interesting.’ I was playing all over the place. At 3-love I called my coach, and he said, ‘Okay, maybe change the racquet.’ Maybe this helped me.” 

Dinara converted on eight of 11 break point opportunities against the 26-year-old Italian, against whom she’s now 3-0 all-time.

“Slowly I think she got tight,” Dinara said of Vinci. “I don’t know what happened to her because I was completely off. That happens, you know.”

Dinara explained why her left hand is bandaged.

“It’s since Los Angeles,” she said. “I would say I lost a bet with a coconut. I was trying to open a coconut, and actually didn’t open it very good because the knife slipped and it went straight into my hand. It was pretty deep.  Actually, I was lucky that I was able to play in Los Angeles, because until the day before the tournament I didn’t hit any backhands. It’s better, but I was also lucky that I didn’t touch any ligaments.  They didn’t put in stitches because the doctor was not there on site. Now it’s okay.”

Zheng Jie upended world No.1 Dinara in a nail-biter in the round of 16 of the LA Women’s Tennis Championships on Thursday night. It was her first win in five career matches against the Russian.

Zheng, seeded 14th, appeared headed for a two set win, building a 75 31 lead. Like she has done so many times before, Dinara fought back, winning nine of the next 12 games to take the second set and lead 4-2 in the third; but Zheng stormed through four games in a row of her own - losing just two points in the process - to seal the deal, 75 46 64.

“I don’t know what happened in the first set, but I started to play much better in the second set. In the third set, I just didn’t use my opportunities,” Dinara said. “It’s disappointing for me, but she’s a good player. It’s tough to play her. She took her chances and beat me. In this match, I didn’t do the right things.”

Dinara will play in Cincinnati next week as her US Open preparations continue.

 

Dinara Defeats Daniela

After receiving a first round bye, top seed and defending champion Dinara got past Daniela Hantuchova, 62 64, in second round action Wednesday at the Los Angeles Women’s Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife.

Dinara, who captured the last Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event she played, in Portoroz, converted on five of seven break point opportunities in the match. She has now won five of her eight career matches with Hantuchova, including all three of their encounters in 2009.

Next up for the Russian is No.14 seed Zheng Jie, whom she is 4-0 against all-time. This is the first event Dinara’s playing this year that’s part of the Olympus US Open Series, the string of hardcourt tournaments leading up to the US Open. She won the series last year.

Dinara is the first player to qualify for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place for the second year in a row at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from October 27-November 1. The world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season will compete for the coveted Sony Ericsson Championships title and a share of the record Championships prize money of $4.45 million.  
 
Dinara will make her second appearance at the Sony Ericsson Championships, having previously qualified for the event last year. She is enjoying a spectacular 2009 season during which she attained the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career on April 20, won back-to-back titles at Premier events Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, captured Banka Koper Slovenia Open, reached the finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros and advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon. 

Since becoming World No.1, Dinara has a 34-4 match record and her 16-match winning streak is the best on the Tour this season. Her 2009 season comes on the heels of a career 2008 year during which she won four Tour singles titles, in addition to winning the coveted Olympus US Open Series and a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. Since 2008, her ranking has vaulted from No.17 to the current World No.1. To date, Dinara has won 12 Tour singles titles and is projected to pass the $9 million mark in career prize this year.  
 
“Dinara has achieved great results this year and earned her spot as the first player to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Dinara’s impressive performance this year has included a terrific run which started in the spring and included winning three tournament titles and reaching the pinnacle of the sport as the World No.1 along the way.”
 
“We congratulate Dinara on being the first player to have qualified for the 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. We look forward to building on the excitement of last year’s tournament,” said Aldo Liguori, Corporate Vice President and Head of Global Communications & PR for Sony Ericsson.
 
“Qualifying for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships is one of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year,” said Dinara Safina. ”I’ve accomplished a lot of milestones this season and am thrilled to be the first to qualify for the Championships. I look forward to returning to Doha and competing again for the Sony Ericsson Championships title.”
 
The Championships were first played in 1972 and since then the event has been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York City; the Olympiahalle in Munich; Staples Center in Los Angeles; and the Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo in Madrid. Former singles champions include Tracy Austin, Kim Clijsters, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Venus Williams.