Dinara Mubinovna Safina is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the 2009 French Open, falling to Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She had success at Grand Slam events in women's doubles by winning the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Safina retired in 2014 after a lengthy absence from the tour since 2011 due to an ongoing back injury. She is the younger sister of former world No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. The brother–sister pair are the first to both achieve No. 1 rankings.
Anastasia Myskina defeated Elena Dementieva in the final, 6–1, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2004 French Open. It was her maiden major singles title, and she became the first Russian woman to win a major; she had previously never passed the quarter final at a major. Myskina became the first woman in the Open Era to win the French Open after saving a match point, doing so in the fourth round against Svetlana Kuznetsova. This marked the first time two maiden major finalists contested a final since the 1979 Australian Open. The final also made Russia the fourth country in the Open Era to have two countrywomen contest a major final.
Belgium's Justine Henin defeated France's Amélie Mauresmo in the final, 6–3, 6–3 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics. It was Belgium's only gold medal at the 2004 Games. Henin lost only one set during the tournament. In the bronze medal match, Australia's Alicia Molik defeated Myskina, 6–3, 6–4. The medals were the first in women's singles for Belgium and Australia, and the first for France since 1924. The United States' three-Games gold medal streak at the event ended, with no American players reaching the quarter-finals.
The 2004 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2004 season. The 2004 WTA Tour calendar comprised the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tier I-V Events, the Fed Cup, the Summer Olympic Games and the year-end championships.
The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2008 tennis season. The 2008 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tier I-IV Events, the Fed Cup, the year-end championships, and the tennis event at the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
Justine Henin defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, 6–1, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2007 US Open. She did not lose a set during the tournament. It was her last major title and final US Open appearance.
The 2007 Pacific Life Open women's singles was the women's singles event of the 2007 Pacific Life Open, a WTA Tier I tennis tournament held in March. Maria Sharapova was the defending champion, but lost in the fourth round to Vera Zvonareva.
Ana Ivanovic defeated Dinara Safina in the final, 6–4, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 French Open. It was her first and only major singles title. With the win, Ivanovic also became the world No. 1; Maria Sharapova, Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova were also in contention for the top ranking. Ivanovic dropped only one set during the tournament, to Janković in the semifinals. This marked the last time Ivanovic would reach a major quarterfinal until the 2012 US Open.
Maria Sharapova defeated Ana Ivanovic in the final, 7–5, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 Australian Open. It was her third major singles title. She did not lose a set during the tournament or face a tiebreak in any set. Sharapova also became the first Russian woman to win the title. It was Ivanovic's second runner-up finish in as many major finals, though she would win the French Open a few months later.
Serena Williams defeated Jelena Janković in the final, 6–4, 7–5 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 US Open. It was her third US Open singles title and ninth major singles title overall. With the win, she regained the world No. 1 singles ranking for the first time since 2003. This was also her second US Open and third major overall won without losing a set during the tournament. Three of the top four seeds were in contention for the No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament.
The United States' Serena Williams and Venus Williams defeated Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final, 6–2, 6–0 to win the gold medal in Women's Doubles tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie defeated Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–2, 6–2. This was the Williams sisters' second Olympic gold medal in Women's Doubles.
Venus Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–7(5–7), 6–0, 6–2 to win the singles tennis title at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships. It was her first Tour Finals title.
Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She won 16 WTA singles titles, reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open and reached seven other Grand Slam semifinals. Dementieva was also part of the Russian team that won the 2005 Fed Cup. In doubles, she won the 2002 WTA Championships with Janette Husárová and was the runner-up in two US Open doubles finals – in 2002 with Husárová and in 2005 with Flavia Pennetta. Dementieva achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 3, which was accomplished on 6 April 2009. She announced her retirement on 29 October 2010, after her final match at the 2010 WTA Championships. Between 2003 and 2010, she only ended one year, in 2007, outside the top 10. She is considered to be one of the most talented players never to have won a Grand Slam tournament.
Serena Williams defeated Dinara Safina in the final, 6–0, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2009 Australian Open. It was her fourth Australian Open singles title and her tenth major singles title overall. With the win, Williams regained the world No. 1 ranking.
The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open women's singles was the women's singles event of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, a WTA Premier Mandatory tennis tournament held in Key Biscayne, Florida in late March and early April. World No. 1 Serena Williams was the defending champion and attempting to win a record sixth title at the tournament, but she lost in the final to Victoria Azarenka, 6–3, 6–1. Azarenka won her third WTA singles title and first at the Premier or above level.
Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina in the final, 6–4, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2009 French Open. It was her second major title, after the 2004 US Open. The final marked the third all-Russian final in major singles history, and the first since the 2004 US Open. Safina fell to 0–3 in major finals with the loss. The match was also the conclusion of a series of matches between the pair during the preceding clay court season, with Kuznetsova beating Safina to win the title in Stuttgart, and Safina avenging the loss by beating Kuznetsova in Rome.
Nadia Petrova was the defending champion of tournament's last edition, but lost in the first round to Alona Bondarenko. Jelena Janković won in the final 6–4, 6–2 against world No. 1 Dinara Safina.
Jelena Janković was the defending champion, but lost in the second round against Peng Shuai.
This is a list of the main career statistics of retired Russian professional tennis player Dinara Safina. Throughout her career, Safina won twelve WTA Tour singles titles including three Tier I singles titles at the 2008 German Open, Rogers Cup and Pan Pacific Open, respectively; one Premier Mandatory singles title at the 2009 Madrid Open and one Premier 5 singles title at the 2009 Italian Open. She was also the runner-up at the 2008 French Open and the 2009 Australian Open and French Open as well as a silver medalist in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The United States' Serena Williams defeated Russia's Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–0, 6–1 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Both finalists were attempting to become the second woman to complete the career Golden Slam in singles. Williams won the gold without losing a set, without losing more than three games in any set, and without losing more than five games in any match. Her serve was broken only once during the tournament. She also became the first tennis player to complete the career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. It was the United States' first victory in the event since Serena's sister Venus Williams won in 2000, and its fifth gold overall. In the bronze medal match, Belarus' Victoria Azarenka defeated Russia's Maria Kirilenko, 6–3, 6–4.
Elena Dementieva (RUS)
