Safina Takes Trophy

Here at Tennis Talk we considered Dinara Safina to be a sleeper during the 2008 hard court season; the Russian star and French Open finalist proved this prediction to be true with an impressive Rogers Cup title.

Results - Sunday, August 3, 2008
Singles - Final
(7) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 62 61
Doubles - Final
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Kirilenko/Pennetta (RUS/ITA) 61 61
Final Facts
- Safina wins her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year (after Berlin and Los Angeles) and the eighth of her career (before 2008 she had won titles at 2002 Sopot, 2003 Palermo, 2005 Paris [Indoors], 2005 Prague and 2007 Gold Coast); she is now 8-6 lifetime in Tour singles finals.
- Safina began the season with an 11-10 record but since going to Berlin is now 27-3 (broken down that’s 6-0 at Berlin, 6-1 at Roland Garros, 3-1 at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 2-1 at Wimbledon, 5-0 at Los Angeles and 5-0 in Montréal); among the 27-3 record is a 9-1 record against Top 10 players (including one win in Montréal, over Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals).
- Safina is the fourth player to win three Tour singles titles this year, following Sharapova, Serena Williams and Radwanska.
- Cibulkova is now 0-2 lifetime in Tour singles finals, having finished runner-up at the Tier II green clay court event in Amelia Island earlier this season (to Sharapova).
- Cibulkova, who was unseeded, beat four seeds to reach the final, including No.5 seed Dementieva and No.2 seed Jankovic (her wins over the world No.6 and world No.2 were her third and fourth career Top 10 wins, having beaten Venus Williams and Chakvetadze earlier this year).
- Safina is projected to rise from No.8 to a new career-high of No.7 on the new rankings; Cibulkova is projected to rise from No.31 to No.20 (which would be her career Top 20 debut).
- Black and Huber win their seventh Tour doubles title of the year (and 19th overall); they had already won titles this year at Antwerp, Dubai, Berlin, Birmingham, Eastbourne and Stanford; this was their second Tier I title of the year (following Berlin).

Final Quotes
Dinara Safina, 2008 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank singles champion:
"I think my experience helped me a bit in the final; I'm sure Dominika's time will come soon. It's the first time in my life I've won back-to-back tournaments. I used to win a tournament then lose first round the next week. But now I'm always just taking it one match at a time. It's a new experience for me and really just amazing. I'm so happy to win today."

Dominika Cibulkova, 2008 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank singles runner-up:
"I was pretty nervous in my first big final and I wished to play better. I'm kind of upset with how I played in the final. I wanted to have a good match against Dinara. But I think she played really well. I hope in my next final I will play better."
courtesy: WTA tour media