Watch Dinara Safina(RUS) vs Serena Williams(USA) Live Streaming, Live Score
Dinara Safina(RUS)
vs
Serena Williams(USA)
When American Jim Courier won the Australian Open in 1993, he celebrated by jumping into the Yarra River.
When Marat Safin won the US Open in 2000, he brought a case of chilled vodka to his press conference.
So what would Safin’s little sister Dinara Safina do if she were to win Saturday’s Australian Open 2009 women’s final?
“I'll go and buy chocolate cake,” she admitted on Friday.
“This would be my present for myself, that, yes, I can eat that chocolate cake.”
Of course, for a long time Safina didn’t think she would even be in the cake shop – let alone choosing which chocolate delicacy she fancied.
Twelve months ago, the Russian was a first-round loser at this tournament, bundled out unceremoniously by German teenager Sabine Lisicki. As she revealed this week, Safina began to seriously consider quitting tennis.
But the world No. 3 dug her heels in, deciding to give things one last try. And to the surprise of perhaps herself as much as the tennis world, she was soon in the final of the French Open.
“It was unexpected, you know. When I came there … nobody believed I can be there.
“Suddenly, you're in the French Open final. All of a sudden you want to win, all the pressure. I hope all the experience I went through in that match will help me for my next match tomorrow.
“Mentally maybe I was not ready there for the final … I was really tired because I had too much things going in the French Open, too many tough matches, singles, doubles all together. I was just mentally exhausted there.”
Despite her straight-sets loss that day to Ana Ivanovic, Safina has gone on to prove her Roland Garros campaign wasn’t a flash in the pan.
On Saturday night, she’ll enter Rod Laver Arena in an infinitely better position to handle the immense pressure and expectations of a large crowd.
“That makes you stronger, you know, to play the match like against Jelena [Dokic] when all the crowd is supporting her,” Safina said.
When Marat Safin won the US Open in 2000, he brought a case of chilled vodka to his press conference.
So what would Safin’s little sister Dinara Safina do if she were to win Saturday’s Australian Open 2009 women’s final?
“I'll go and buy chocolate cake,” she admitted on Friday.
“This would be my present for myself, that, yes, I can eat that chocolate cake.”
Of course, for a long time Safina didn’t think she would even be in the cake shop – let alone choosing which chocolate delicacy she fancied.
Twelve months ago, the Russian was a first-round loser at this tournament, bundled out unceremoniously by German teenager Sabine Lisicki. As she revealed this week, Safina began to seriously consider quitting tennis.
But the world No. 3 dug her heels in, deciding to give things one last try. And to the surprise of perhaps herself as much as the tennis world, she was soon in the final of the French Open.
“It was unexpected, you know. When I came there … nobody believed I can be there.
“Suddenly, you're in the French Open final. All of a sudden you want to win, all the pressure. I hope all the experience I went through in that match will help me for my next match tomorrow.
“Mentally maybe I was not ready there for the final … I was really tired because I had too much things going in the French Open, too many tough matches, singles, doubles all together. I was just mentally exhausted there.”
Despite her straight-sets loss that day to Ana Ivanovic, Safina has gone on to prove her Roland Garros campaign wasn’t a flash in the pan.
On Saturday night, she’ll enter Rod Laver Arena in an infinitely better position to handle the immense pressure and expectations of a large crowd.
“That makes you stronger, you know, to play the match like against Jelena [Dokic] when all the crowd is supporting her,” Safina said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.