Dinara Safina vs Ai Sugiyama — Sydney Semi-final

Sydney · WTA · Semi-final
RUS
Dinara Safina
40 yrs · 185 cm · Right-handed
Last 10 · pre-match
LWLWWWLWWL
0 — 0
Sets
Monday, 12 January 2009
hard
JPN
Ai Sugiyama
51 yrs · 163 cm · Right-handed
Last 10 · pre-match
LLLLWLLWLL
Safina D.
6-4 7-6
Sugiyama A.
Safina D.
6772
Sugiyama A.
463–

Dinara Safina defeated Ai Sugiyama 6-4 7-6 in the Sydney semi-final on hard. The upset overturned the form book — Ai Sugiyama came in leading the head-to-head 3–2. Dinara Safina narrowed the head-to-head to 3–3.

Key context

Head to head

2–3
DateTournamentRoundSurfaceWinnerScore
2007-03-19MiamiR32hardDinara Safina6-4 3-6 6-1
2005-01-03Gold CoastR32hardDinara Safina6-3 6-2
2003-09-15ShanghaiQFhardAi Sugiyama6-4 7-6(7)
2003-05-12RomeR32clayAi Sugiyama6-0 2-6 6-4
2003-03-19MiamiR64hardAi Sugiyama3-6 7-5 6-2

Serve vs return

This season
Safina D.serving75% hold

wins 61% of points on serve vs Sugiyama A.

Sugiyama A.serving57% hold

wins 53% of points on serve vs Safina D.

Serve advantage — Safina D.

Each player's serve crossed against the other's return, converted to expected hold of serve. Recent completed matches, ATP, WTA & Challenger. About

Statistics

This season
Safina D.Sugiyama A.
1st serve in·Even
65%
65%
1st serve points won·Slight edge
65%
60%
2nd serve points won·Even
42%
44%
Service points won·Even
57%
54%
Return points won·Slight edge
47%
42%
Break points saved·Slight edge
55%
48%
Aces / match·Clear edge
2.3
0.8
Double faults / match·Clear edge
5.8
4.9

Averages over each player's completed matches in the selected window (112 vs 26). ATP, WTA & Challenger.

Clutch

Under pressure
Safina D.Sugiyama A.
Clutch Rating·Dominant
72
42
Break points saved·Slight edge
79
68
Break points won·Clear edge
84
63
Deciding sets·Dominant
79
53
Tiebreaks·Dominant
77
49

Performance in the biggest moments — break points, deciding sets and tiebreaks (0–100, higher is better). About

Conditions

Court speed
Fastbig serves, short points
SlowFast

Draw

Final
Dementieva E.
Safina D.
6-32-66-1
Semi-finals
Safina D.
Sugiyama A.
6-47-63
Dementieva E.
Williams S.
6-36-1
Quarter-finals
Sugiyama A.
Kuznetsova S.
W/O
Dementieva E.
Radwanska A.
6-25-76-4
Williams S.
Wozniacki C.
6-756-37-63
Safina D.
Cornet A.
6-36-4
R16
Wozniacki C.
South M.
6-26-0
Williams S.
Errani S.
6-16-2
Dementieva E.
Gajdosova J.
6-26-4
Radwanska A.
Hantuchova D.
6-37-5
Kuznetsova S.
Kanepi K.
6-22-67-63
Sugiyama A.
Medina Garrigues A.
2-66-16-2
Cornet A.
Kleybanova A.
7-656-1
Safina D.
Dushevina V.
6-36-0
R32
South M.
Bartoli M.
1-1
Errani S.
Dellacqua C.
6-16-2
Wozniacki C.
Cibulkova D.
6-16-2
Dementieva E.
Makarova K.
7-56-1
Gajdosova J.
Knapp K.
6-46-2
Hantuchova D.
Koukalova K.
6-36-0
Radwanska A.
Bammer S.
6-46-3
Williams S.
Stosur S.
6-36-747-5
Kuznetsova S.
Peng S.
3-66-16-3
Kanepi K.
Kerber A.
6-17-5
Sugiyama A.
Craybas J.
6-26-3
Medina Garrigues A.
Yakimova A.
6-13-66-3
Cornet A.
Petrova N.
6-26-4
Dushevina V.
Starr E.
6-06-1
Safina D.
Cirstea S.
6-26-1
Kleybanova A.
Kirilenko M.
6-26-2