World No. 1 Safina triumphs in all-Russian final in Rome
Published: 10 May, 2009, 20:20
Russian Dinara Safina celebrates after winning the WTA Rome International claycourt Tennis Open tournament (AFP Photo / Christophe Simon)
World No. 1 Dinara Safina is the new Roland Garros favorite after methodically overcoming the threat of fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Italian Open final.
Safina was seeking revenge after Kuznetsova defeated her at the Porsche Grand Prix one week ago.
And Safina had the answer for everything Kuznetsova could throw at her, winning comfortably in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Safina bagged her first title after laying claim to the No. 1 ranking, and her first one in Rome after finishing runner up to Martina Hingis back in 2006.
The 23-year-old came through, despite being on the brink of elimination several times during earlier rounds.
”I am feeling great, you know. It has been such a good start to the season and such a good start to the clay-court season. I've also been working very hard on the clay, and I'm really happy that the hard work is paying off," Dinara Safina said.
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