Dinara Safina's playing style and her early life
Friday, January 15, 2010
Dinara 
Mikhailovna Safina (born April 27, 1986 in Moscow) is a Russian professional tennis player and is a former world number 1 women's tennis player. Currently Safina is ranked world number 2.
She has been the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments and won the women's doubles title at the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her most recent achievement is runner-up in the 2009 French Open.
She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. She and her brother are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve #1 rankings.
Playing Style
Safina's game is built on her powerful groundstrokes which are hit heavy and flat. Her forehand is considered one of the best and is her "winner heavy" side, her backhand is hitted accurately and can open up the court which can devastate her opponents game. Due to her full power on every shot playing style she also produces a high number of unforced errors. She also has a big serve but is inconsistent most of the time thus delivering a high number of double faults.
Through the years her mental game significantly improved and also her speed she is also considered one of the most fit players on tour.
Early life
Safina was born in Moscow, Russia to Tatar parents. Her mother, tennis coach Rauza Islanova, was her trainer when she was younger. Safina's father is director of the Spartak tennis club in Moscow. At age 8 Safina and her family moved to Valencia, Spain and as a result Safina speaks fluent Spanish as well as Russian and English.
Previously, Safina was coached by Glen Schaap, former coach of Anna Chakvetadze and Nadia Petrova. Her current coach is Željko Krajan. She trains in Varazdin, Croatia.
Safina's idols growing up were Steffi Graf, Jelena Jankovic, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport. More recently, she has stated that she idolises Rafael Nadal.
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