Dinara Safina

TODAY'S WOMEN'S FINAL (world rankings in parentheses) Dinara Safina, Russia (1), vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia (7) They played on clay in a final in Rome on May 10, and Safina won. They played on clay in a final in Stuttgart on May 3, and Kuznetsova won. They played a French Open semifinal in 2008, and Safina won. They played a French Open quarterfinal in 2006, and Kuznetsova won. They've played eight times on clay, and each has won four.

Reporting from Carlsbad — Dinara Safina attacked any short balls that came off the racket of Alona Bondarenko. Any Bondarenko shot that landed in the middle of the court, Safina pounced on it, grunting loudly with the effort of pummeling the return, sweating through towel after towel even in the cool evening. Safina is a work in progress this summer. A year ago she was ranked No. 1 in the world and defending that position to the critics who pointed out that she hadn't won a major tournament, that whenever she played then second-ranked Serena Williams, she would get pounded.

TODAY'S FEATURED MATCHES Women's semifinals; world rankings in parentheses: Venus Williams (3) vs. Dinara Safina (1), Russia Williams has played a brand of grass-court tennis so superb there have been moments when the stadium speakers ought to have played Mozart. Safina has conducted trademark raging battles with herself such that there've been moments when the stadium speakers ought to have played AC/DC. (Williams leads head to head, 2-1, with no previous Grand Slam meetings.

A man with slicked-back hair who stole $26,000 in cash and jewelry from an Israeli basketball team at Staples Center also scammed his way into two downtown hotels to steal thousands of dollars from Chivas de Guadalajara soccer players and a salsa music troupe, police said Wednesday. Detectives linked the man to the three thefts after comparing surveillance footage from Staples Center on Oct. 20 to video and descriptions from two hotels that had reported similar thefts in August and September, said Lt. Paul Vernon , head of detectives for downtown Los Angeles.

TODAY'S FEATURED MATCHES (world rankings in parentheses) Dinara Safina (1), Russia, vs. Victoria Azarenka (9), Belarus Safina has been so suddenly despotic this tournament that even though Azarenka is absolutely a budding starlet at 19, if she wins as many as three games -- as nobody else has against Safina -- she should get a standing ovation and a chanting of her name and maybe a small bouquet of flowers. Maria Sharapova (102), Russia, vs.

Whereas Robin Soderling's smelling-salts upset of Rafael Nadal at the French Open on Sunday seemed to say, "I do exist," his encore against Nikolay Davydenko on Tuesday seemed to say, "You probably should start taking me rather seriously here." There's a rarefied art to following a monumental upset with an ensuing performance that doesn't go poof, and Soderling perfected it Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 decimation of a player Roger Federer deemed a contender for the whole croissant.

Reporting from Carlsbad — Dinara Safina attacked any short balls that came off the racket of Alona Bondarenko. Any Bondarenko shot that landed in the middle of the court, Safina pounced on it, grunting loudly with the effort of pummeling the return, sweating through towel after towel even in the cool evening. Safina is a work in progress this summer. A year ago she was ranked No. 1 in the world and defending that position to the critics who pointed out that she hadn't won a major tournament, that whenever she played then second-ranked Serena Williams, she would get pounded.

She stalks the baseline beneath a boiling sun, her sweat glistening. She scowls. Her lips are pursed, her fists clenched. A moment later, Dinara Safina, ranked as the best women's tennis player in the world, is smiling, batting autographed balls into the crowd after her win Wednesday at the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships at the Home Depot Center in Carson. Her scowl is absent, her lips and fists now relaxed. That much is obvious.

Serena Williams is headed back to the top. Williams needed only to win her second-round match at the China Open on Tuesday to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, because the current top-ranked player, Dinara Safina , couldn't get past that early round at the tournament. Coming in, Williams had to fare better than Safina in Beijing to move to the top of the rankings next week. Safina lost to local wild-card entry Zhang Shuai in the second round Monday. Williams then needed just over one hour for a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

The way the song goes, one is the loneliest number. Thursday at the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships in Carson, it was also the unluckiest. Dinara Safina, the No. 1 player in the world and top seeded in the 56-player singles draw, was upset in the third round. Safina, the defending champion, followed Ana Ivanovic, who lost here last year while ranked No. 1.

Serena Williams was knocked out of the China Open on Thursday, losing to Nadia Petrova , 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5), in Beijing only days before regaining the No. 1 ranking. Williams, who will take over the top spot in the rankings from Dinara Safina on Monday, looked sluggish in the first set before recovering in the second. Neither player was able to earn a break in the third set. Petrova, who finished with 14 aces, said her strong serve was the key. Petrova will face Peng Shuai , who eliminated Maria Sharapova in straight sets on Wednesday.

Serena Williams is headed back to the top. Williams needed only to win her second-round match at the China Open on Tuesday to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, because the current top-ranked player, Dinara Safina , couldn't get past that early round at the tournament. Coming in, Williams had to fare better than Safina in Beijing to move to the top of the rankings next week. Safina lost to local wild-card entry Zhang Shuai in the second round Monday. Williams then needed just over one hour for a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

The chairman of the Florida State University trustees wants football Coach Bobby Bowden to retire at the end of this season. Jim Smith said Monday the arrangement with Bowden as head coach and his designated successor, Jimbo Fisher , as offensive coordinator isn't working. "We've got too many bosses out there," Smith said. "Jimbo is in a very, very tough situation where people assume he has a whole lot more authority than he really has. He's getting blamed for a lot of things that's just not his fault."

Serena Williams is 22-1 in major tournaments this year, that one loss coming at the French Open to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. But for one wonky set of tennis on red clay, Williams might be looking at a sweep of the Grand Slams. Instead, she has a more modest aim: winning singles and doubles at the U.S. Open. This morning, while the patrons at Arthur Ashe Stadium were still brushing doughnut crumbs from their lips, second-seeded and defending U.S. Open champion Williams was finishing off a 6-2, 6-0 win over 22nd-ranked Daniela Hantuchova.

Maria Sharapova came armed with her nerve and her serve Tuesday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Showing no evidence of an uncertain serve that has plagued her this summer, Sharapova dispatched Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3, 6-0, in 73 minutes. Sharapova missed the first five months of this season while recovering from last fall's shoulder surgery, and the 22-year-old Russian is seeded 29th. It is an unaccustomed place in the draw for the woman who was once ranked No. 1. Sharapova said she was particularly happy with how she attacked the match by moving forward.

Sam Querrey matched Andy Roddick shot for shot and made the biggest ones during a pair of tiebreakers Wednesday night, setting up a 7-6 (11), 7-6 (3) victory at the Cincinnati Masters in Mason, Ohio. Playing his first match of the tournament, Roddick blew a 5-2 lead in the first-set tiebreaker, then lost his cool in a back-and-forth second set on a humid night that left both players dripping sweat all over the court. He slammed his racket after getting broken in the second set. The top four seeded players -- Roger Federer , Andy Murray , Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic -- won their opening matches in straight sets earlier Wednesday.

Paola Suarez upset 15th-ranked Dinara Safina, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Monday in the first round of the Acura Classic. Suarez, ranked 55th in the world, bounced back from losing the first set to take control of the match against her ninth-seeded opponent, one of 10 Russians in the event. Most of the top players begin play today in a tournament that features six of tennis' top 10 women, including No. 2 Kim Clijsters. Flavia Pennetta, seeded 12th, defeated Lisa Raymond, 7-5, 6-3.

A look at Day 11 of the French Open and a look ahead to today's competition (world rankings in parentheses): TODAY'S QUARTERFINAL WINNERS Roger Federer, Switzerland (1) -- defeated Fernando Gonzalez, Chile (25), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Federer confessed to feeling "rattled" after being broken three times in the first set. Of course, "rattled" for him means one of his nerves budged. Dinara Safina, Russia (14) -- defeated Elena Dementieva, Russia (8), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0. Just as against No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, Safina trailed by one set, trailed, 5-2, in the second set and trailed, 5-3, with a match point against her in the second set. Clearly, if you're leading her a set and 5-2, you are in deep trouble.

Flavia Pennetta does not have a spectacular tennis game in the way of the big-hitting Venus and Serena Williams or the loudly grunting, fiercely competitive Maria Sharapova or the extravagantly clever but maddeningly inconsistent Dinara Safina. But the 27-year-old from Italy has the experience to construct points using all her shots, her ground strokes and lobs, going cross court and playing behind her opponent. All these little things added up to the biggest win of Pennetta's career.

The way the song goes, one is the loneliest number. Thursday at the L.A. Women's Tennis Championships in Carson, it was also the unluckiest. Dinara Safina, the No. 1 player in the world and top seeded in the 56-player singles draw, was upset in the third round. Safina, the defending champion, followed Ana Ivanovic, who lost here last year while ranked No. 1.