Russia's Dinara Safina moved one victory away from joining big brother Marat as a Grand Slam title winner when she reached the French Open final yesterday.
The 13th seed saw off fourth-seeded compatriot, and overwhelming favorite, Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 and will face either Ana Ivanovic, the second seed, or third seed Jelena Jankovic, both of Serbia, in Saturday's final.
Russian player Dinara Safina returns a shot to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova during the semifinal of the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday.AFP
Marat Safin won the US Open and Australian Open before his career went into steep decline, while a 2002 semifinal appearance was his best performance at Roland Garros.
Few would begrudge his little sister from triumphing in what will be her first Grand Slam final after staging two carbon copy comebacks in the previous rounds.
The 22-year-old saw off fellow Russians, top seed Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva, despite being a set and 2-5 down. For good measure, she also saved a match point in both ties.
"This is for me, Marat and all of my family," said Safina.
"At 5-2 in the second set and 0-30 down I got a little tight. But I told myself to be more aggressive or she would take control.
"I never expected to get to the final, but sometimes when you least expect it, the results come."
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open winner and runner-up here in 2006, admitted she had played one of her worst matches in the French capital.
"It was really horrible, I felt bad," said the fourth seed who could have become the new world number one had she gone on to win the title.
"Dinara's been playing really well. She pushed me all over the court but I couldn't fight her as I was fighting myself.
"I think she has a good chance of winning on Saturday."
Safina survived a lengthy test of her opening service game and then broke to lead 2-0.
In a first set, which featured five breaks in nine games, Safina was the cooler of the two Fed Cup teammates when the crucial moment arrived.
A Kuznetsova forehand error gave her a 5-3 lead and she set up set point with a sweet backhand drop shot while Kuznetsova was pinned at the back of the court.
Safina claimed the opener when the fourth seed steered another simple forehand wide.
It was the first set the 22-year-old Kuznetsova had dropped at Roland Garros this year.
The pair exchanged breaks again in the first two games of the second set before Safina nipped ahead to lead 3-2.
An out-of-sorts Kuznetsova picked up a code violation for launching a ball, baseball-style, into the upper tiers of the Court Philippe Chatrier as her frustration mounted.
Safina had proved her claycourt credentials in the run-up to Roland Garros by winning the prestigious Berlin tournament, claiming the scalps of former world number one Justine Henin and Serena Williams along the way.
That confidence-boosting performance helped her get through a nervy sixth game before she again broke a flailing Kuznetsova to lead 5-2.
She wrapped up the semifinal when Kuznetsova unleashed another forgettable forehand.
In Wednesday's matches, Roger Federer's pursuit of an elusive French Open crown gathered momentumafter he overcame a slight hiccup to record a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.
"To make four (semis) in a row (here) is a great accomplishment, but this year I'm obviously aiming for the title so I hope it's not going to stop here," said Federer, who is eyeing a third straight final with champion Rafael Nadal.
Next up for world No 1 Federer will be local favorite Gael Monfils, who became the first Frenchman to reach the last four since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Spanish fifth see David Ferrer.
(Agencies via
China Daily June 6, 2008)