It took about two years for Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to come out of retirement. Kimiko Date Krumm waited 12 years before letting the fire inside her burn again and Dinara Safina felt the full heat in Paris.
Russia's Dinara Safina said the players were unhappy with the changes being made to the 2009 WTA Tour schedule.
Venus Williams overwhelmed third-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
Fourth seed Dinara Safina overpowered fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open title on Sunday.
Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova muscled their way to straight-set wins on Saturday to set up an all-Russian final at the Pan Pacific Open.
Fourth seeded Williams beat Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic in straight sets to win her third US Open crown and ninth Grand Slam title.
Russian sixth seed Dinara Safina overcame a couple of concentration lapses to defeat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.
A half-fit Sania Mirza and rookie Sunitha Rao tried every tricks in the book but still could not avert a defeat against top seeded Russian duo of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina in the second round of the women's doubles tennis event of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday night.
Russian seventh seed Dinara Safina overwhelmed Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1 to claim the Montreal Cup.
Dinara Safina won her first title on US soil with a clinical 6-4, 6-2 destruction of Flavia Pennetta in the Los Angeles Classic final on Sunday. The powerful Russian completely dominated the Italian's serve, breaking her six successive times to claim her second title of the year.
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic staved off a stirring fightback from compatriot Jelena Jankovic set up a meeting with Dinara Safina in the French Open final. Safina beat fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other semi-final.
Dinara Safina reached the French Open final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Russian and fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova's French Open hopes were shredded by a familiar foe on Monday, while Roger Federer plunged a dagger into French hearts.
Also making it to the last eight were Svetlana Kuznetsova and Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.
Dinara Safina of Russia came from a set down to win the German Open on Sunday with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over seventh-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva.
Dinara Safina won a great scrap with fifth seed Serena Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 to reach the German Open semi-finals.
Second and third seeds Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova were sent spinning from the Amelia Island tennis championship on Friday.
The Indo-American pair went down 6-7, 7-5, 10-4 to Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China in the semi-final of the Indian Wells tournament.
Russian Dinara Safina remained on course to retain her title, taming France's Virginie Razzano.
World number one Dinara Safina was beaten 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 in the third round of the US Open on Saturday by little-known Czech Petra Kvitova.
Kim Clijsters's brilliant comeback after two years off the tour came to an end at the Cincinnati Open on Friday when she lost 6-2, 7-5 to world number one Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals.
World number one Dinara Safina scrambled past Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday. World number 46 Vinci served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but her nerve failed her at the crucial time.
China's Zheng Jie capitalised on a final set meltdown by world number one Dinara Safina to reach the quarter-finals of the LA Championships with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory over the Russian on Thursday.
Serena Williams overpowered top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-1 to reach her first Kremlin Cup final.
Britain's Andy Murray and Russia's Mikhail Youzhny became the latest seeds to fall in the Kremlin Cup when they lost to lower-ranked opponents in the second round on Thursday.
World number one Justine Henin made a problem-free return to the court on Thursday, beating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-1 in her first match since winning the US Open.
World number one Dinara Safina overcame a gutsy fightback from Lucie Safarova to beat the unseeded Czech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 and seal a place in the last eight of the Madrid Open on Thursday. Top seed Safina will play Alona Bondarenko on Friday for a place in the last four after the Ukrainian beat Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 earlier in the day.
The Indian ace beat Russia's Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-2 in the third round in San Diego.
World number one Dinara Safina came from behind to win an epic contest with Venus Williams 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday and set up an all-Russian final at the Italian Open in Rome. Safina rallied from a set and 2-0 down to earn the right to face her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who barged past Belarussian Victoria Azarenka with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
The Indian ace overcame a hesitant start to beat the Greek and make the third round of the San Diego Classic.
Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova lost their respective fourth round matches at the French Open
The world number two suffered a surprise defeat by the Russian in the last 16 of the Italian Open.
Russian Dinara Safina lost her chance to become the world number one when she was beaten 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 by Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Wednesday. The top seed, who would have replaced Serena Williams as the world's top ranked player had she reached the final, was well beaten by the 19-year-old eighth seed.
Unseeded Venus Williams marched into the Family Circle Cup semi-finals by beating Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 7-5 on Friday.
Top seed Nadia Petrova made short work of China's Zheng Jie with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to move into the quarter-finals of the Amelia Island championship on Thursday.
World number three Dinara Safina saved two match points and won the last five games in an extraordinary comeback to beat French teenager Alize Cornet 6-2 2-6 7-5 in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.
Second seed Kim Clijsters cruised into the semi-finals of the Diamond Games with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic
China's Li Na scored an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 win over ninth seed Dinara Safina in the Australian Open third round.
Dinara Safina proved she could keep a lid on her emotions when it mattered by beating Martina Hingis 6-3 3-6 7-5 in the final of the Australian women's hardcourt championships on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances