Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina began 2010 with a ranking of number 2 in the WTA World Rankings. Unfortunately Safina has not been able to maintain her position as the 2nd best player in the world due to some physical struggles.
Safina played well in her first tournament, reaching the quarterfinals at the WTA Medibank International. Unfortunately when she reached the quarterfinals she met Elena Dementieva, who would go on to win the Singles Title at the WTA Medibank International. This doesn’t represent a poor start for Safina, but her troubles began to develop as she played in the Australian Open.
She breezed through the first three rounds of the Australian Open, winning her three matches in straight sets. In the 4th round she played against Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko was up 4-5 when Safina was forced to withdraw from the match due to problems with her back.
These problems with her back have still not ceased. Since withdrawing from the Australian Open, she has sat out three other events. It is difficult to maintain the spot of 2nd in the world when you are not healthy enough to play.
The first order of business for Safina will be to get back to full health. She has already demonstrated that she can be one of the top players in the game when healthy. There will be questions of confidence when she returns. It is difficult to know if a player can have the same mental toughness after not playing for several events. An injury can cause you to change your mechanics or second guess your abilities.
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