Dinara Safina and the weight of a paper crown. In 2009, the Russian Dinara Safina was confirmed as the WTA’s newest world Number One. She was the 19th different player to hold that honour and remained at the top for 26 of the next 28 weeks. That’s longer than Tracey Austin, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams or Safina’s compatriot Maria Sharapova managed. And, yet, the now-retired Safina is never mentioned in the same breath as those players.

Her six-month reign as world Number One, despite never having won a Grand Slam, is almost forgotten now and was ridiculed at the time - – particularly by the player, she deposed from the top spot, Serena Williams.

She was a player that was defined more by what she didn’t win than what she did.

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About Baseline Tennis:

Baseline Tennis adds colour and context to the stories behind the game – both familiar and lesser-known.

Standing apart from the maelstrom of the 24/7 news cycle, Baseline Tennis provides informative, engaging and intelligent content on the past, present and future of the game, focusing on the stories that matter.

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