Dinara Safina, the former world no.1 and 3 time Slam finalist, officially retired at a moving ceremony in Madrid on Sunday. The Russian was a controversial holder of the WTA top spot but her WTA Legend status is not in question when you look closely at her career. Here are ten reasons why.
1. She had to come out of this guy’s shadow.
That is quite some shadow. A winner of two slams and a former world no.1, not to mention one of the game’s most popular personalities and lookers, Marat Safin was quite the big brother to have for a tennis player. Safina though proved to have much of the same tennis gold running though her blood. She not only equalled her brother’s no.1 status, but was at the top for longer, and helped the siblings make history in becoming the first brother and sister to reach no.1 in the ATP and WTA rankings.
2. She was world no.1 for 26 weeks.
Only 21 women in the WTA’s 40 year history have achieved no.1 status and only 11 of them held it longer than Safina.
3. She made 3 Grand slam finals.
Safina’s fans would love nothing more than for this sub-title to read she won a slam. But the fact is she did not. She did, however, make 3 finals, which is no small achievement. And she made all 3 of them in a five slam period.
4. She won 12 titles.
In 2008, Safina won Premier tournaments in Berlin, Montreal and Tokyo. In 2009, it was Rome and Madrid.
5. She won her first title in Sopot as a 16 year old qualifier.
And she beat Patty Schnyder on the way.
6. She beat Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Martina Hingis.
That is the four biggest names of her time. 3 of the wins over the Williams-Henin trio all came on clay while the Hingis win was on Australian hardcourts, the Swiss’ best surface.
7. She was one of the first players to play under the Wimbledon center court roof
That roof was a long time coming, but when it came in 2009, it was Safina, the women’s top seed who got to play under it. Safina marked the occasion with one of her best grass court performances as she beat 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo.
8. She made the semi-finals of all slams.
And one of them at Wimbledon, too. Critics said it was her worst surface, but Safina proved she was pretty good on it.
9. She won $10,585,640 in prize money.
That is quite the chunk of change to exit the most professional tour in women’s sport with.
10. This:
Safina worked herself to the brink as she transformed herself from an at times out of shape overly emotional mid teens ranked player into the fittest, most focused and highest ranked player on the tour. Though that hardwork might have contributed to the back injury that ended her career, it brought her more rewards than anyone predicted for her and made her a name that will go down in the WTA history books. Not bad at all. Anyone for the gym?
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