Safina inspired by Sharapova victory

DINARA Safina revealed the memory of her epic victory against Maria Sharapova in the last 16 of the French Open was the catalyst for her follow-up triumph against Elena Dementieva yesterday.

Safina reached the final four of a grand slam for the first time with a hugely entertaining 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-0 win over fellow Russian Dementieva in a match that had eerie parallels with her victory over top seed Sharapova two days earlier.

The 22-year-old found herself a set and 5-2 down in both matches but each time managed to mount a stunning salvage operation to win in three sets and line up an all-Russian semi-final against Svetlana Kuznetsova.