“Stuttgart is my No.1”

Stuttgart. Dinara Safina can hardly wait. “I’m so curious about the clay court in the Porsche Arena,” said the new world No. 1 when arriving in Stuttgart on Wednesday evening. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will be played for the first time ever on clay from 25 April to 3 May. For the Russian, who will celebrate her 23rd birthday on Monday, there was no question that she will be kicking off her clay court season at her favourite tournament. “Stuttgart is my No. 1! For me it’s the best tournament by a long way. We, the players, are treated so well here.”

Along with six other Top 10 players, including Olympic Champion Elena Dementieva (Russia) and title-holder Jelena Jankovic (Serbia), Dinara Safina will be competing for a total of 700,000 dollars prize money and the new Porsche Boxster S at the long-standing tournament. She would also dearly love to win and give herself a Porsche for her birthday. “A great car. I’d love to drive a Porsche.”

23/04/2009