French Open women’s finalists at a glance

[TheGift]

PARIS (AP)—Thumbnail glances at the women’s singles finalists at the French Open, with seedings:

No. 2 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia vs. No. 13 Dinara Safina of Russia:

Ivanovic:

Right-handed, 20, born in Belgrade, Serbia, and lives in Basel, Switzerland. … Playing the French Open for the fourth time; best result before this year was reaching the 2007 final, where she lost 6-1, 6-2 to Justine Henin. … Saturday’s match will be her third Grand Slam final; lost to Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open championship match in January. … A semifinalist or better at four of the past five majors.Has lost one set and 34 games at the French Open this year. … Beat Sofia Arvidsson, Lucie Safarova, No. 30 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 10 Patty Schnyder, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic. … Has won six career singles titles, one this year. … 26-6 this season. … Will move up to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time Monday, regardless of how she does in the Roland Garros final. … Twice honored as tour’s most improved player, for her 2005 and 2007 seasons. … First player to represent Serbia in a Grand Slam singles final. … Coached by Sven Groeneveld.

Safina:

Right-handed, 22, born in Moscow, Russia, and lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco. … Playing the French Open for the sixth time; best result before this year was reaching the quarterfinals in 2006. … Will be playing in her first Grand Slam final. … Has dropped two sets and 44 games at the French Open this year. … Beat Kateryna Bondarenko, Magdalena Rybarikova, Zheng Jie, No. 1 Maria Sharapova, No. 7 Elena Dementieva, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova. … Was one point from losing against both Sharapova and Dementieva, and trailed by a set and 5-2 in the second in each of those matches. … Could become the first woman to win a Grand Slam title after having saved a match point in two matches at the tournament … Has won six career singles titles, one this year. … 23-10 this season. … Will reach No. 9 in Monday’s rankings, tying her career high. … Younger sister of Marat Safin, who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open. … Coached by Raouza Islanova (her mother) and Zeljko Krajan.

French Open women's finalists at a glance - Tennis - Yahoo! Sports