Safina lifts her level with Carson title

Dinara Safina did not make the cut in May when Russian Olympic team captain Shamil Tarpischev announced his tentative squad for the Beijing Olympics.

A month later, he had to think again. One of his choices, eighth-ranked Anna Chakvetadze, wanted to skip the Olympics.

That left Safina the next Russian in line in the rankings.

Tarpischev turned to her, and in Sunday’s final of the East West Bank Classic at Carson, Safina made that decision look good.

The 22-year-old Russian swept Flavia Pennetta, 6-4, 6-2, for the title at the Home Depot Center, and at least earned a vote of confidence from her Italian opponent.

“I think she’s improved a lot,” the 10th-seeded Pennetta said of Safina.

“She’s moving much better now, and also with the forehand it’s better now. Before she played just cross-court all the time.”

Safina, seeded fourth, dispatched Pennetta in 70 minutes, finishing a week in which she dropped only one set.

After breezing through the first two rounds, Safina needed three sets and two tiebreakers to get past fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva and reach the quarterfinals.

Safina rebounded from that near-exit by defeating Victoria Azarenka and top-seeded Jelena Jankovic to reach the final.

“Sometimes it happens,” Safina, now ranked eighth in the world after Sunday’s win, said. “You need one match. You just pound it out, and then the next day you start to play better because in that match she was playing pretty good, Alla.”

In the final, both players held serve until Safina broke Pennetta to take a 5-3 lead. After Pennetta broke back at love, she made three unforced errors on her serve to fall behind 0-40. After saving one break point, Pennetta sent another shot into the net.

For Safina, taking the first set helped settle nerves.

“Well once you reach a final it’s already a big step, and I think I had a pretty tough draw and all,” Safina said. “I wanted so badly to win the final.”

As in her semifinal match against Jankovic, Safina then pulled away quickly in the second set. Safina broke Pennetta in the second game and continued to do so throughout the set, including in the final game.

“I didn’t serve very well today, but my serve doesn’t work also because she was very consistent,” Pennetta said. “I was very nervous because I know if I don’t make the first one, with the second one she was on the court all the time and pushing hard the ball.”

Still, Pennetta, now ranked 18th, could not help but be pleased with her play this week. Both players will continue on to the Rogers Cup in Montreal this week, with the Olympics after that.

“I’m pretty happy about this week, and I think it was a good week for me, and I hope the next one is better,” Pennetta said.

The Carson tournament also elevated each finalist to career highs in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings, a feat Safina credited to her conditioning.

“This is the key for me,” she said. “Physically I have to be fit because I have to play aggressive.”