PARIS — Dinara Safina cursed at herself in English, muttered to herself in Russian and generally carried on in much the same manner of older brother Marat Safin.
Safina’s face bears a striking resemblance to Safin’s, and she shares his broad shoulders, too. Both have been ranked No. 1 — the only brother-sister combo to do so — and now Safina is one victory from joining Safin as a Grand Slam champion.
Yearning to justify her ranking and live up to her bloodlines by winning a major title, the top-seeded Safina overcame a poor start Thursday and held her temper in check enough to beat No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 and reach a second consecutive French Open final.
“I’m trying to control my emotions,” Safina said. “I’m not playing my best, but still, it’s not easy to beat me.”
Not lately: Safina has won 20-of-21 matches since rising to No. 1 in April. The only woman to defeat her in that span, 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, will get another crack at Safina on Saturday in the third all-Russian major final in tennis history.
The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova seemed well on her way to an easy semifinal victory, but she stumbled a bit before getting past No. 30 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
“She’s going to be favorite to win,” Kuznetsova said, looking toward her match with Safina. “She’s No. 1. She played an unbelievable season.”
In the men’s semifinals today, No. 2 Roger Federer plays No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, and No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez meets No. 23 Robin Soderling.
Federer is trying to win his first French Open championship to complete a career Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles.
French Open
Weather: Sunny, high of 68 degrees Thursday
Attendance: 16,622
Women’s semifinals: No. 1 Dinara Safina def. No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3; No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. No. 30 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
Stat of the day: 0-2 — Safina’s record in Grand Slam finals
Men’s semifinals today: No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez vs. No. 23 Robin Soderling
Today’s forecast: Sunny, high of 70 degrees
Today’s TV: NBC, 8-11 a.m.; Tennis Channel, 2-9 p.m.
