Safina wins East West Bank Classic
I wasn’t very excited about this tournament - while Jankovic had a chance to make it to #1, she was eliminated before that could happen, and most would agree that she is not to world #1 caliber yet. We can rehash the reasons why women’s tennis just isn’t any good as of late, but I’m saving that for a later post.
The matches I watched of this tournament were pretty lame - it was a display of underconfident women shooting deer-in-headlights looks at their coaches after every point. Maybe we’ll see better this week?
Dinara Safina could smash rackets with the best of them. She could let her temper lead her astray, get lost in a fog of exasperation.
Sunday, she was just another mellow soul in California, comfortable with moving at her own pace, doing her own thing.
The 22-year-old Russian’s coach, Zeljko Krajan, looked at her quizzically.
“I don’t know what is going on with you,” Krajan told her. “But you are so quiet on the court.”
Yet she scared the heck out of Flavia Pennetta in the East West Bank Classic final at Home Depot Center. Somehow, this was the same Safina who survived a match point earlier in the week.
That’s tough to believe, especially the way Safina blasted her way to a seventh career title with a 6-4, 6-2 dismantling of Pennetta.
It continued Safina’s summer cruise, in which she has reached four finals in her past five events and two victories. She has won 23 of her past 25 Tier II or higher matches.
She’ll reach a career-best No. 8 in the world when today’s latest rankings are announced. Daily News (LA)