The No. 1 Digs Deep and Prevails

Stuttgart. Dinara Safina (Russia) has gone through to the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix after an exciting and hard fought semifinal. In a match that lasted almost two hours, the world number one eventually beat the unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. The 23-year-old Moscow born player, who was this year’s Australian Open runner-up, has been coming to the 700,000 dollar tournament in Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena for the past five years and Sunday’s match will be her first appearance in the final.

“It was very difficult for me today. The first one and a half sets were not good at all and my coach was annoyed with me,” said Dinara Safina. “After I talked to him on the bench, I completely changed my game and finally found a way of beating Flavia.“

In the final on Sunday Dinara Safina will meet her countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Elena Dementieva in the first semifinal. The final is scheduled for 3.45 pm and it will be preceded by the doubles final and a show performed by a troupe of artistes belonging to the Europa Park. The match promises to an enthralling encounter. The world No. 1 and the No. 9 have met on eleven previous occasions and Safina has triumphed seven times to Svetlana Kuznetsova’s four.

“I played Svetlana four times last year,” said Safina, “I won every one. It’d be great if my wining streak continues tomorrow.”

02/05/2009