Dinara Safina set for short stay at Wimbledon
The numbers are starting to stack up for Dinara Safina on her latest return from the back injury that crippled the end to an otherwise successful 2009 (yes, despite what some may say, it was) and it’s not looking good.
In six matches of competitive tennis since re-entering the fray at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Safina has recorded only one win. That was in her opening match against Agnes Szavay, which after a scrappy start, the Russian won in three sets.
Five consecutive losses have followed: the most notable a collapse to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in the first round of the French Open; the most recent a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Magdelena Rybarikova in Safina’s first round match at the Unicef Open in The Netherlands over the weekend.
It was Safina’s first loss in three matches against the world No. 45, and must raise further questions about the wisdom of the former world No. 1’s return to the circuit given her ongoing battle with back problems.
Asked whether her back was impacting her serve after that loss to Date Krumm at Roland Garros, Safina replied, “I couldn't work on my serve for I mean, until I came here, basically.”
With such limited practice, that result, and possibly also the one at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, become less surprising. While Safina’s will to compete is undeniable it’s perhaps also unwise in the current circumstances.
The evidence, in the form of results, is stacking up ever higher.
The flipside is that the match practice might be just what Safina needs as she seeks to rebuild her game after an injury lay-off; the worry is that a string of losses will do absolutely no good to what on the biggest stages tennis has to offer (read Grand Slam finals) has three times previously looked to be a fairly fragile psyche.
Long-term, and provided her back is managed sensibly, Safina should get through this slump. It’s just hard to see too much ground being made on the lawns of Wimbledon, where the world No. 21 was last year a semi-finalist.
Winning her way to the second-to-last round at the All England Club in 2010 now seems like pie in the sky stuff for Safina. Indeed, reaching the second round now appears to be a much more realistic outcome for the Russian.
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