Dinara Safina ended her six match losing streak in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego but lost in the following round already, in straight sets to fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-3. This is Radwanska’s first victory over former world No.1 Safina and their head-to-head record is 2-1 now.

Radwanska’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be Shahar Peer who advanced with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova. (photo by John Bolan)

According to James LaRosa, Twitter is no longer Dinara Safina’s place to visit because of offensive people.

Serena Williams is the most active player on Twitter, she’s practically addicted to Twitter, and I like what one commentator said on Forty Deuce: "Dinara does not have thick skin, clearly. Serena seems to survive just fine." Marat, step in!

Safina last tweeted something on July 25.

Former world No.1 Dinara Safina defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-1 7-6(2) in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open on Monday and snapped a six-match losing streak. Safina, whose season was hampered by a back injury, has slumped to No.35 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings and hadn’t won a match since Stuttgart in April.

In the match against Bondarenko Safina decided to take an aggressive approach and it paid off. Here’s what the 24-year-old Russian said:

I needed the win. Last week I lost a tiebreaker and in practice I lost one because I was playing defensive. Tonight I said I'm not going to play defensive and be aggressive and whatever happens, happens.

Very good news is that Safina claims her back is alright now:

I think my back is fine now. Every morning when I wake up and it feels good I say thanks.

Safina’s next opponent will be either fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Chanelle Scheepers, who reached the fourth round of the 2010 French Open. (source: Reuters, photo by our reader John Bolan)

Dinara Safina’s career has been going through a lot of hardships and the end of her downfall is not in sight, especially after the latest news that she has withdrawn from Wimbledon 2010 because of the lower back injury which has been bothering her for too long a time, since November.

The last year’s finalist Safina, who was to be seeded 20th this time, will be replaced in the draw by Melanie Oudin, while Stephanie Dubois entered the draw as a lucky loser.

World No.5 Elena Dementieva will also miss this year's Wimbledon due to a calf injury. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Wimbledon is just days away and the annual party celebrating the tournament was held at the Roof Gardens in West London's Kensington last night. As usual, the WTA players gave their best to look good and glamorous, and oh well, as usual, their success was sporadic.

Let's start with the bright examples. Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova were spot on. Their dresses are perfect fits and just right for the occasion.

Defending champion Serena Williams looked like a pop star and I'm sure this profile picture will stay remembered for a while. Dinara Safina was having one of her better appearances, although I'm convinced this is not the best she can offer. Read more »