Dinara Safina, who is scheduled to meet fellow compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova at the French Open final, has barely done justice to herself in her two previous appearances in a Grand Slam final.
The world no.1 was defeated by Ana Ivanovic here last year and was crushed in less than an hour by Serena Williams at this year's Australian Open. Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 US Open, last beat Safina in the current clay-court season, winning the final in Stuttgart.
However, Safina has won eight of their 13 meetings, including five of the last six.
''She's no.1,'' Kuznetsova said.
''She has to win it, not me. I just want to go out there and enjoy it.''
The two players, both 23, have been friends and rivals since they were juniors.
''She was a funny girl,'' Safina recalled.
''I remember her coming to the match with a two-litre Pepsi. You would look at her and think: 'No way can she win a Grand Slam one day'."
"But then she moved to Spain and changed completely. She became much more professional.''
(Via ESPN; Image via BBC Sport/AP)
Can he become the greatest player in the Open era?
JMDP was frustrated with the outcome but he also told Roger, "Everybody wants you to lift the trophy.”
Roger will now face Roland Garros sensation Robin Soderling in Sunday's final.
Victory there will take Federer level with Pete Sampras's mark of 14 majors and make him only the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
Federer will go into his fourth Roland Garros final with an advantage of 9-0 career record over Soderling.
Soderling is aiming for a Swede success.
Soderling, the shock conqueror of four-time champion Rafael Nadal, also needed five sets to reach his maiden Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Fernando Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was down and out of the French Open."Soderling deserves to be there because he also beat Nadal and he was the man to beat in this tournament."
(Images via Yahoo! Sports)
Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan beat Vania King and Marcelo Melo 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7 to win the French Open mixed doubles championship.
Look at Huber's face. Haha... she doesn't look so comfortable in the beginning...
The title is Bryan’s second consecutive in mixed doubles at the French Open and his sixth Grand Slam mixed doubles title overall—each with a different partner.“It’s gotten better and better each time,” he said.
But she began to feel comfortable and they started teasing each other...
... then she touched his face...
Bryan also has won seven men’s doubles major championships with twin brother Mike. They lost in the semifinals at Roland Garros earlier Thursday to Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium.“This was a way for me to feel good, you know, to leave here with a win, leave here with a trophy, big title and a Grand Slam,” Bryan said.
... and as they walked, he put his arm on her shoulder...
... all's well ends well, and it ended with a kiss.
For Huber, it’s her first mixed doubles Grand Slam title. She has won four women’s doubles major championships. “I’m so grateful for playing with Bob,” she said.
“I truly think we wouldn’t have won this title without him.”
(Via AP, Images by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Oh, dear! The Australian Open is facing another blow when Qantas decided to join GE Money, Garnier and MasterCard who ended their sponsorship for the Happy Slam.
Even though the tournament is expected to announce several new partnership deals, the Qantas deal which was heavily linked to ticketing and travel-related arrangements than cash, was said to bring the total value of recently lost sponsorships to AU$10 million!
Tennis Australia declined to comment, and Qantas spokesman also reluctant to discuss whether the end of the sponsorship was related solely to the global economic crisis.
(Via theage.com.au)
Dinara Safina, who is scheduled to meet fellow compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova at the French Open final, has barely done justice to herself in her two previous appearances in a Grand Slam final. 
