Dinara Safina speaks about her idol - Lindsay Davenport

While Davenport reached no. 1 ranking already on 12th October 1998, Safina did so on 20th April 2009. When Lindsay reached no. 1 spot, Safina was only 12 years old and therefore it is understandable that the American, was Dinara's idol. Now, Safina spoke to WTATennis.com about why she looked up to Lindsay and how she expressed her admiration.

"I wasn’t watching that much tennis as a kid. Between sport, school, and practices, I didn’t have time to just sit and watch but one of the first matches I do remember seeing was when Lindsay Davenport won the 2000 Australian Open. From that moment, I got more into watching her, trying to follow her results as much as I could. Growing up, I was always looking up to Lindsay. I really liked the way she was on the court. I tried to copy her behavior, the way she acted during matches. She was always so calm on the court. You could hardly see any emotions from her; whatever she may have been feeling inside, she was always trying to be cool," Safina said.

"You can’t be exactly like another player but you can try to emulate their best attributes, so I coveted her mentality in tough moments: how she concentrated and took her time. I was lucky to meet her while she was still playing but when I meet someone I admire, I’m very shy! As much as I would love to, I would never go up to them and say, ‘You know what? You’ve been my inspiration.’ I would feel kind of silly doing that so, in moments like that, I keep everything inside – excited as I was at the time," said Safina.

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