Safina grabs second straight tournament title, wins Rogers Cup
MONTREAL -- After a week of tough matches, the final was a breeze for Dinara Safina.
The seventh seed from Russia easily handled unseeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in a 6-2, 6-1 victory at Uniprix Stadium on Sunday to win the Rogers Cup.
"I came onto the court thinking OK, it's not going to be an easy match," Safina said. "I would say I was more experienced in finals and it paid off.
"I hit some good shots and, in the crucial moments, she gave me some good mistakes -- that I could say 'thank you' -- and that helped me win in two sets."
It was a second win in a row for Safina, who beat Flavia Pannetta in the final in Los Angeles last week. With a win earlier this year in Berlin, it was the 22-year-old's third victory of the year and the eighth of her career.
Safina has reached the final in five of her last six tournaments, including the French Open in May where she lost to Ana Ivanovic.
"It's just unbelievable -- it's a first-time experience for me," she said. "Normally, if I win a tournament, the next week I'd always lose in the first round.
"When I won my first match, I thought OK, it's better than the previous times. Then I just took it one match at a time."
Safina's route to the final included wins over ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder and No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and then a three-set victory late Saturday night over 11th-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.
She won $196,000 while Cibulkova earned $99,850 at the Tier-1 hardcourt event.
Cibulkova has been knocking off seeded players for most of the season so far and it continued in Montreal, where she eliminated No. 5 Elena Dementieva, No. 12 Nadia Petrova, No. 2 Jelena Jankovic and No. 10 Marion Bartoli on the way to the final.
It all came apart in the final, as she failed to deal with Safina's serve and made numerous unforced errors.
"I was pretty nervous in my first big final and I wished I played better," the 19-year-old Cibulkova said. "I'm kind of upset with how I played.
"I wanted to have a good match against Dinara. In the rallies, I didn't play the way I wanted. I was scared to make a mistake. That's why I was standing behind the baseline. It was not all good today, but that happens."
Cibulkova is still seeking her first WTA win. She also made a final this year at Amelia Island, losing to Maria Sharapova.
Safina is expected to move from eighth to a career-high seventh in world rankings with the win, while Cibulkova should move from No. 31 into the top 20.
Safina's brother, 28-year-old Marat Safin, also won a Rogers Cup in 2000 in Toronto, the same year he won the U.S. Open.
Cibulkova is also headed to Beijing for the Olympics.
"I hope I play well," she said. "Now I have enough confidence to believe in myself, so we will see.
"This was my best week ever and I really enjoyed it. When you beat your idol [Jankovic] or a player you always looked up to [Dementieva], it's something special. I hope to have more weeks like this.
And she promised: "Next final, I will be more relaxed and not so scared about it."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
