5 Things We Learned From Dinara Safina's Title Run in Slovenia

Since most of you probably didn't get a chance to watch it yourself, here are some lessons that can be gleaned from WTA #1 Dinara Safina's 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Sara Errani yesterday in Portoroz, Slovenia, at the Banka Koper Slovenia Open, an "International" (formerly Tier IV) level WTA event.

1. If you win a tournament, however small, in a tiny country with nothing else going on, the president himself might come on court to present you the trophy.  If you're the world #1, he might even make an effort to match his tie to your ensemble.  All in the name of make benefit glorious nation of Slovenia.
   
2. World #1 Dinara Safina's serve was broken seven times in Sunday's final in Portoroz, in fifteen service games.  So roughly half the time, the highest ranked player in the WTA was unable to hold serve on a fast hard court against an opponent with a 7-7 record on hard courts in 2009 before this week.  Safina also double faulted nine times, which was nine times more than her opponent did.
3. In her four matches on her way to the final, Sara Errani lost only eight total games to a set opponents with an average ranking of 114.  Dinara Safina lost seventeen games to a set of opponents with an average ranking of 160.  Safina also lost more three or more games in a set four times in her first four matches.  Errani lost three or more games in a set zero times.  Errani was ranked #38 in the world.  Safina, you'll recall, is ranked #1.
4. Even the Slovenian tennis press was unimpressed with the world #1's effort in their country.  My Slovenian is pretty rusty, so I relied on the always handy Google Translator to decipher this RTV SLO (Radiotelevizija Slovenija) blog which talks about Safina's psychological strength (or lack thereof), especially her need to constantly look toward coach Zeljko Krajan in the stands for both non-verbal and verbal support.
   
5. Safina pockets $37,000 in prize money for winning title in Portoroz.  Not bad for a week's pay in most lines of work, but in tennis context that's $9,000 less than 76th-ranked Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis earned for reaching the third round of the US Open last year.  It's also $70,000 less than the champion of this week's tournament in Stanford will earn, a field that includes both Williams sisters, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and Jelena Jankovic, among others.  Safina will not be competing in Stanford, but she'll always have Slovenia.

And there you have it--five things the tennis community can take away from Dinara Safina's title in Portoroz, a title that strengthened her hold on the #1 ranking.

Good grief.