Ljubicic advice set Safina on path to glory
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hovering outside the world's top 10 for three years, Dinara Safina must have felt that she was destined to stay in the shadow of her more illustrious brother Marat Safin.
A recommendation in 2007 from Ivan Ljubicic changed all that.
Ljubicic advised the services of fellow Croatian Zeljko Krajan as a coach and since they hooked up, Russian Safina has been almost unstoppable.
"Last year I knew that after U.S. Open I was going to stop (working) with my ex coach," the world number six told reporters after dispatching Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.
"I wanted to work with Heinz Guenthardt but he could not travel a lot. So we needed to find a guy who could.
"I need to thank Ivan Ljubicic because he advised me (about Krajan). After (the) Australia (Open in January) I decided, okay, I'm going to work with him.
"First we'll give it a try until French Open. It turned out really good and now we working together.
"So I think I need to thank Ljubicic or invite him for dinner," grinned Safina, who is one of six players who could top the rankings at the end of the season's final grand slam.
Since May, Safina has been the in-form player on the tour and has reached six finals in seven tournaments.
That run has included winning titles in Berlin, Los Angeles and Montreal. She also picked up a silver medal at the Olympics and having contested her first grand slam final at Roland Garros, is eager to go one better in New York.
However, she feels she would never have hit her purple patch of form if she was still under the guidance of her former coach, Dutchman Glen Schaap.
"I was working with the Dutch guy for almost two years. At the end we just stopped listening to each other," she said.
"He would not accept what I would say. He didn't want to hear my opinions. This is the reason why we started to fight a lot on the court.
"I have enough stress on the court playing a match and if I go for practice and I'm still fighting with my coach, I don't need this.
"So I decided I better try with somebody else maybe who would listen a little bit more to me."
Her gamble paid off and asked what Krajan's main contribution has been, Safina, who like her brother has a habit of exploding on court, replied: "I would never imagine that one tennis coach would have so much patience for me.
"I would scream, cry, whatever, and he would say, Okay, let's go. Keep on going."
She has not stopped since.
(Editing by Justin Palmer)
