CAME ALIVE

    Safina made numerous unforced errors to lose her first three service games of the match and go 5-0 down.

    She rallied to pull a break back but ended the set as she had begun it, drifting a backhand over the baseline after just 27 minutes.

    There was no sign of the 20-year-old Russian picking up her game at the start of the second set either, as more backhand errors caused her to drop serve in the first and fifth games.

    She finally came alive when Hingis earned two match points against her serve in the ninth game.

    An ace and an unreturnable first serve kept Safina in the contest and when Hingis snatched at a forehand long in the following game to drop serve, the Russian levelled at 5-5.

    Safina's comeback was short-lived.

    Hingis lashed a forehand winner down the line to break again in the 12th game and then demonstrated her resilience, staving off four breakpoints to hold serve and win.

    "Today I had a lot less energy than usual," said Safina, who survived a 2-1/2 hour match against Kuznetsova on Saturday to reach the final.

    "Of course I'm disappointed but still I had a great week. I never even dreamed that I could be in the final here by beating three top 10 players".
(Source: China Daily/Reuters)