Lawn Tennis
Tennis' Hotshots: Dinara Safina And Juan Martin Del Potro
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Correspondent, Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:22pm PST USA
Russia's Dinara Safina and Spain's Juan Martin Del Porto failed to win US Open titles this summer, but they wowed us with their other recent results.

Safina, 22, and Del Porto, 19, both won several hardcourt tournaments in a row in the weeks before the US Open, serving notice that they will be factors for the fall and in 2009.

Dinara Safina, Lawn Tennis Magazine Juan Martin Del Potro, Lawn Tennis Magazine
Name Dinara Safina Juan Martin Del Potro
Birthdate April 27, 1986 September 23, 1988
Age 22 19
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1/2 in) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 70 kg (150 lb) 78 kg (170 lb)
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco; Moscow, Russia Tandil, Argentina
Plays Right-handed Right-handed
Turned Pro 2001 2004
Tour Ranking 5 13
2008 Singles Record 48-15 32-9
Weapon Aggressive baseline game Powerful serve and groundstrokes
Big Win Snapped world number one Serena Williams' 17 match winning streak 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(7-5) in the Berlin quarterfinals in May. Defeated Andy Roddick 6-1, 7-6(7-2) in the Los Angeles final to win his third of four straight titles this summer.
Fact Won a silver medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics after reaching at least the final in 6 of her last 7 tournaments played. He became the first player in ATP history to win his first four career titles in as many tournaments in route to amassing a 23 match winning streak.
Best Grand Slam Result
Finalist at 2008 French Open Quarterfinalist at 2008 US Open


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