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No. 24 seed, Daniela Hantuchova downed former World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows.

Safina was the top seed here last year, but was eliminated in the 3rd round. She has been plagued by a back injury which has forced her to miss almost three months of the 2010 season, including Wimbledon. She reached the World No. 1 ranking in April of 2009, but her ranking has now dropped to 50th in the world in just over a year. She has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament.

Dinara Safina of Russia has decided to pull out of the 2010 Wimbledon, following the lead of countrywoman, Elena Dementieva who withdrew because of a calf injury on Tuesday.

“I had to pull out today,” tweeted Safina on her Twitter feed. “My back injury came back and I can’t play… I tried but I can’t…sorry.”

Safina’s exit from the Grand Slam opens the way for Stephanie Dubois of Canada to enter the draw as a lucky loser.

In 2009, Safina reached the semifinals of Wimbledon before being crushed by Venus Williams of the USA in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

Ninth seed and former World No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia came to a crashing halt in the French Open Tuesday as she was defeated by Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Safina, a beaten finalist here in 2008 and 2009, took the first set but Date Krumm stuck to her task and claimed victory on her first match point when the Russian sent a lazy backhand well beyond the baseline.

Date Krumm, 39, became the second oldest winner of a Roland Garros match after Virginia Wade and will face Australian wild card Jarmila Groth
Jarmila Groth in the second round.

No. 78 seed, Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, defeated 13th seeded Marion Bartoli of France to advance to the 2nd round of the 2010 WTA Polsat Warsaw Open being played May 17-22 in Warsaw, Poland.

The 28 year-old 2005 champ at Hertogenbosch and Portoz lost the 1st set 4-6, then dominated the final two sets 6-1, 6-2 for the win. Bartoli, 25 years old, was the 2009 champ at Stanford and Monterrey.

It was the second week in a row that Klara has scored a big 1st round victory; last week in Madrid she defeated #5 (and former #1) Dinara Safina in the 1st round, 7-6(1) 7-6(3).

Maria Kirilenko of Russia is making her way through the draw at the 2010 WTA Internazionali BNL d’Italia currently being played May 2-9 in Rome, Italy. In reaching the Quarterfinals, she knocked off No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in round 2. In round 3, she defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Kirilenko now faces No. 1 seed, Serena Williams of the USA in the Quarterfinals.

Another big upset in Rome was achieved in round 2 by Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania who defeated No. 3 seed, Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. Dulgheru was then ousted by No. 14 seed, Nadia Petrova of Russia, 0-6, 6-3, 2-6.

Injuries have long been a part of the sports scene. Lately, however, injuries seem to be a plague on both the women’s and men’s side of the tennis court.

The WTA tried to address that problem last year, when after years of debate and struggle, the season was shortened by two weeks – that is, the offseason was shortened from seven to nine weeks before they had to start up again in 2010. The WTA also reduced the number of required events for the top players. These two changes were designed to do two things: 1) keep the biggest stars from getting injured, and 2) get them to face off against each other more often.

Russia’s Dinara Safina, the former No. 1 ranked tennis player, has no set time frame for returning to competitive tennis. However, she has not given up hopes of making a return to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Safina has been off the competitive circuit since the 2010 Australian Open. She had severely injured her back during the 2009 summer season, but had continued to play up through the Australian Open, when she was forced to retire in the fourth round while playing against her countrywoman, Maria Kirilenko.

Two of the top Russian tennis players in the world, Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina, plus the current No. 1 ranked player in the world, Serena Williams of the United States, have all withdrawn from the 2010 WTA Sony Ericsson Open running in Miami, Florida, USA on March 23 – Apr. 4 because of injuries.

Sharapova, who won earlier this year in Memphis and was looking forward to playing in Miami for the first time since 2007, was forced to withdraw after an MRI revealed a bone bruise on her right elbow. She is expected to miss 3-6 weeks of competition.

World No. 2, Dinara Safina of Russia, has been forced to pull out of next week’s Dubai Tennis Championships because of ongoing back problems.

She said on her website, “Unfortunately, I will not be able to play the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships this year because of the back injury that’s been bothering me since the end of last season. I wish the tournament the best of success on its 10th anniversary and hope to be back next year, as it’s one of my favorite events.

Thanks to all my fans for their support during this difficult period. Keep checking my site for updates on my recovery.”

Unseeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2010 Australian Open when compatriot, Dinara Safina suddenly retired with an injury during the 1st set of their 4th round match.

No. 2 Safina was facing set point, trailing 4-5 and serving at 30-40, when she limped to her changeover chair for a few moments, then walked up and shook Kirilenko’s hand.

Kirilenko ousted another Russian, Maria Sharapova in the first round, and it is the first time Kirilenko has reached the Quarterfinal of any Grand Slam.