Dinara Safina

It is too bad that Safina didn't win a slam to put her critics to rest, but there was really no chance of her doing it at this stage in her career with injury concerns. Retirement is probably a wise decision.

Safina denies retirement decision

Former world number one Dinara Safina has denied she has decided to retire from tennis.

Safina has been battling a long-term back injury and has been on an indefinite break from the game. The Russian has repeatedly suggested she may never return to competitive action and her brother Marat Safin claimed on Friday she had retired.

However, the 25-year-old later responded on Twitter and insisted she had not yet made any decision about whether to quit the game. She tweeted: "My sweet tweeties, I didn't make any official announcement. Give me please some time and I'll let you all know...Right now I want to take care of my back."

She added: "On Tuesday I'm having a treatment...Once I decide something you'll be the first to know, I promise!! Love you all."

Thank you for all your messages, they really mean a lot to me. You are everything to me my sweet twitties."

Safina has claimed 12 women's singles titles during her career and rose to the top of the rankings in April 2009.
http://bit.ly/qF2Z52

sadly, news on Safina's career being over is now confirmed..
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Dinara Safina has spoken of her desire to have a "normal life" following confirmation that she has taken the decision to retire from top-flight tennis.
The Russian was once one of the most dominant players on the circuit, having climbed to No. 1 in the world, but a back injury took its toll and five months after her latest outing - a three-set loss to Julia Goerges in Madrid - her brother Marat confirmed she had taken the decision to retire.
"Dinara has decided to end her career," Marat Safin said. "She has taken the decision relatively well. She considers it just to be the end of a period in her life. Everything is okay with her health. She feels good in everyday life, but she simply can't play tennis professionally any more."
Safina, speaking to ESPN, said: "I'm not missing it at all. If you live with this pain for a year and a half, it's not fun anymore. Whenever I start to think I'm going to have this back pain again, it's just frustrating. So for me, I just want to have a normal life."
Safina, a winner of 12 career titles, is leaving the door ajar for a possible return. She said: "If one day I would like to come back, I will start to practice, but I don't want to say when, what ... I just want to live day by day."
http://es.pn/pyYgci

Sad news, seems that Safina's career is over:

Marat Safin says that his younger sister's Dinara Safina's career is over.
Former No. 1 Safina has struggled tremendously with a back injury over the past two years and has not played since May.

"Dinara was injured two years ago, in Beijing, remember?" Safin was quoted by Russian Eurosport as saying at a press conference in Beijing, where he was promoting a match against Pete Sampras.
"She left, but never recovered completely. She tried to return, but only aggravated the crisis. Now she needs to keep her back to be able to walk normally and live a normal life. [Her back] will continue to be treated, but she will play no more...She will make an official statement herself, but as her brother, I believe that there is no chance of return."

Source: Tennis Magazine.

Safina said today on her website: "I'm sorry to report my back is still acting up and I will not play until at least the end of the year."

Doesn't sound too good...

Former No.1 tennis player Dinara Safina says she is taking an indefinite break from tennis in the hope of recovering from chronic back pain.
The Russian told the daily Sport Express on Thursday that she will miss the upcoming French Open where she has twice reached the final.
She says she will take as much time as it takes to resolve her health issues, adding "I don't want to torture myself any longer."

Source: AAP.

Safina on Twitter: "my next tournament is French Open!!!!i decided to take some time to practice and to take care of my body!as in a last month many things happen,in Marbella back,Fes got food poison,and in Madrid again had problems with my back...so needed some break!well anyway thank u all for"

Dinara Safina is making a bit of a comeback this year after some horrendous results and has started to show some glimpses of getting back to form. She won against good players in both New Haven and Montreal and although not going deep in the tournament showed enough to warrant my support now. Julia Goerges is much happier on clay than on the hard surface and shouldnt prove too much trouble for Safina. She is capable of getting through a round or two but usually against lower ranked players and with Safina back in form i see this as astraight sets victory for Safina.

Safina on twitter:

"hello my tweetis! hadvto pull out today, I thought would feel better after yesterday,but unfortunately not....had a terrible food poison"

"and after my match yesterday had a fever 40.5 it's sad because in was playing good but health is more important..."

Dinara Safina showed no ill effects from the back injury that forced her to retire from her quarterfinal match in Marbella. The Russian raised her all-time record against Jill Craybas to 6-0 with a 61 60 rout in 51 minutes. She will next play the winner of the match between eighth-seeded Alizé Cornet and Andrea Hlavackova, which was suspended by darkness with the Frenchwoman leading, 63 53.