Gutsy Safina battles past Mauresmo
Dinara Safina still going strong
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Monday, 29, Jun 2009 08:58
World number one Dinara Safina survived a close battle against former champion Amelie Mauresmo to come through 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Safina made a fine start as she broke Mauresmo in her first service game to take a 3-0 lead, but the Frenchwoman fought back in terrific fashion.
Mauresmo first broke back and held on to her serve to get right back into the set and then a double fault from Safina saw Mauresmo turn the set on its head and take a 5-3 lead. Safina managed to stop it from being three breaks in a row on her serve, but was unable to save the set as Mauresmo served out.
It looked like Safina would have a mountain to climb as she was broken in the first game of the second set, but the Russian composed herself and got two consecutive breaks on the Mauresmo serve to take a 3-1 lead.
After holding on to her next service game, Safina was 4-1 up, but play then had to be stopped as it started raining. Safina and Mauresmo became the first players to play under the roof on centre court as they resumed their match.
Safina quickly wrapped up the seconds set with ease, but found herself in trouble in the decider as she fell behind early on.
Mauresmo played some inspired tennis to go 3-0 up, but in a see-saw match, Safina again came back to level at 3-3.
It looked like Mauresmo would come up on top as she had two break points to get to 5-3 and serve for the set, but Safina showed her mental toughness to save her serve and get to 4-4. The service hold proved crucial as Safina broke in the next game and then served out for the win.