SYDNEY, Australia - Dinara Safina edged Ai Sugiyama and Elena Dementieva crushed Serena Williams as the semifinals of the Medibank International took the court at the Olympic Park Tennis Centre on Thursday.
Safina was the first of the two to advance to the final, beating the only unseeded player to reach the semifinals, Ai Sugiyama. But it was by far the more competitive of the two semifinals, as the No.2-seeded Safina won a tight opening set and had to come back from a break down in the second set to make it past the wily Japanese veteran, 64 76(3).
"I played a solid game when she served for the second set at 5-4, then I played a solid tie-break too," Safina stated. "It was so hot; that's not an excuse though, because it's the same for us both. But I still don't feel I was playing my best, and it shows I've improved enough that I can play at 50% and still reach the finals."
With her excellent net game - she has been ranked No.1 in doubles - and her incredible retrieving skills, Sugiyama is often tricky for the top players, having 20 career wins over the Top 10, and going as high as No.8 herself. Safina said she was helped by her coach's advice, on staying aggressive no matter what.
"Sometimes you play a match and you don't see things," Safina said. "My coach sometimes comes out and tells me I'm playing completely the wrong way. Today I felt something was wrong. He told me to just not back away from the baseline - he told me, 'Go back to Sydney, just don't run outside of Sydney.'"
Following Safina into the final was No.3 seed Dementieva, who routed the top-seeded Williams in just 68 minutes, 63 61.
"I'm really excited to be in the final here for the first time; it's going to be my second final of the year, so that's great," said Dementieva, who won the title in Auckland last week. "I realize it's going to be tough against Dinara tomorrow."
"I gave it away more than anything," said Williams, who denied injury or fatigue played a factor in the loss to the in-form Russian. "I made a lot of errors and made her look like a champ, really. I just pretty much gave her the match."
Williams had saved multiple match points in two of her matches earlier in the week, facing four against Samantha Stosur in the first round and then three against Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. The three-time Australian Open champion said she was leaving Sydney with positive thoughts, nevertheless.
"It was good to have a few matches under my belt getting ready for Melbourne," Williams added. "I feel like I'm going play a lot better than what I did this week. My main goal, obviously, is to go to Melbourne and do the best that I can do."
After dropping their first four meetings in straight sets, Dementieva has now won three in a row. She had her first win over Williams in the final of Moscow in 2007, 57 61 61, then rallied from 63 42 down to beat her in the quarterfinals of the Olympics last summer, 36 64 63. She famously went on to win the gold medal.
"All of my matches against Serena have been completely different," Dementieva said. "Playing her is very tough, because you don't really know what to expect from her. You have to be very focused and play your best tennis against her."
The 18th all-Russian singles final in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history will take place on Ken Rosewall Arena on Friday night. Dementieva has been in nine of the previous 17, going 4-5 in those; Safina has been in three of them, going 2-1. The pair's actual head-to-head is very intriguing: Safina leads the overall series, 5-4, but all five of her wins have come on clay or grass, while all four of Dementieva's have come on this very surface, hardcourt.
"It's just about who will play better tomorrow," Safina said. "You can't really play tactically against the top players. You have to go out there and just play your game. How can you change your tactics when they have no weakness?"
"We've had enough matches against each other, so we know what to expect tomorrow," Dementieva added. "It's going to be a physical and mental battle for both of us. It'll be a good experience for me right before a Grand Slam."
The doubles final was also set on Thursday. Nathalie Dechy and Casey Dellacqua beat world No.1 duo Cara Black and Liezel Huber in a match tie-break, 76(2) 16 105, in the first semifinal; Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai followed them into the final with a 62 61 rout of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.
