There was no Thrill Ride today. Instead, the Dinara Safina who the world number 1 claims is the real one showed up for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final. Aggressive from the first ball she hit, Safina never let up on the pressure against her talented opponent. And the pressure did Kuznetsova in, as she lost the patience she had shown all week, and made errors as she tried to fight back.
Is this a turning point for Safina? Or just a psychological wellness day? Time will tell. It felt to me like it could be a turning point. If it is, I have to confess that I'll miss those 2-5 down in the third matches. But, as she discovered in the French Open final last year, Safina cannot keep those kind of antics going too long and still win championsips. They are too mentally exhausting, not to mention the physical toll they take.
Nice win for Dinara today. But no turning point.
ReplyDeletePerhaps not. We'll know eventually. Sometimes it does happen, like with Henin.
ReplyDeleteHenin was mentally tough, Dinara is not.
ReplyDeleteHenin wasn't always tough. She was known as the biggest choker on the tour, and then she changed her mentality dramatically. That is to what I was making reference.
ReplyDeleteTrue, and like you said time will tell. Say for instence, her next tournment and the French Open where she should be one of the favorites to win, we will see if Rome was her turning point.
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