2011 BMW Malaysian Open: Lucie Safarova vs. Dinara Safina, second round preview
World Number 35 Lucie Safarova, seeded fifth at the 2011 BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur,
takes on World Number 1 Dinara Safina for a place in the quarters.
Safarovo ousted Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 on the first day of the main-draw in the singles matches. Safina, meanwhile, ousted Chinese player Han Xinyun 6-2, 6-0 to proceed to the next round against her Czech opponent.
This is Dinara Safina’s first win of the new season. The player, who enjoyed a brief yet undeserved stint as World Number 1, was subjected to a number of humiliating losses in the beginning of 2011. The pro, who is the sister of Association of Tennis Professionals
[ATP] player Marat Safin, was beaten 6-0, 6-0 by eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the first round of the Australian Open. This was a crushing defeat for Safina and many fans felt that it would break her spirit; however, the pro opted to take a month off
to rediscover her form.
Although Safina defeated Han Xinyun with a bagel, the fact remains that she was broken twice by the almost entirely unknown player. Her next challenge is a much tougher one, as she will be facing a pro who has set up a 2-2 head-to-head record against her.
In addition to this, Safarova ousted Zarina Diyas without being broken even once. The Czech player, currently World Number 35, is ranked much higher than World Number 113 Safina. She is also a seeded player, although top seed Francesca Schiavone’s first set
defeat at the hands of Aussie player Jelena Dokic proves that rankings may be immaterial at this tournament.
Lucie Safarova recorded her first two wins against Dinara in 2005 and 2006, at the ‘S-Hertogenbosch event on grass and the Gold Coast tournament on hard court respectively. At ‘S-Hertogenbosch, Dinara was ranked World Number 33 and fourth seed, while Safarova
was unseeded as World Number 80. She defeated Safina 6-4, 6-4. Her next victory was even easier, as she ousted the Russian third seed in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 at the Gold Coast event.
However, Dinara Safina has recorded wins over Safarova in their most recent meetings at 2007 Berlin and 2009 Madrid. She defeated Safarova in three sets each time, but made it past the round of the last 16 of the clay events without being thwarted by the
Czech pro on both counts.
Although Safarova’s defeat of Diyas proves that she is still equipped to defeat Safina, she is definitely not invincible. Their past two matches have been quite close, and both players have an equal chance of winning the match. The only real prediction which
can be made is that the match will probably need to be resolved with a tie-breaker.
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