Dinara: It was a nice surprise
2008-06-27 13:49
London - Marat Safin's shock Wimbledon victory over Novak Djokovic stunned everybody, including little sister Dinara, the French Open runner-up.
Safin, a former world number one and Australian Open and US Open winner, knocked out third seed Djokovic in straight sets in the second round, a dramatic victory for a man whose career has been in freefall for three years.
"I wasn't even following the score because I was practicing at that time, and suddenly I finished practice and one girl goes, "Hey, your brother is winning'," said Safina.
"I'm like, 'Winning what? Like a set?;' She said: 'No, two sets to love and break up in the third'. Suddenly I went on court, and it was already 5-2 and match point. It was a nice surprise."
Safina then made it a family double by reaching the women's singles third round with a straight sets win over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.
The ninth seed will face Israel's Shahar Peer for a place in the last 16 while big brother Marat was due to take on Italy's Andreas Seppi later Friday, also for a spot in the fourth round.
But should he make the final, Dinara won't be watching.
"I'm superstitious. I never watch his Grand Slam finals."
- AFP