This year's French Open has seen the coming of age of new potential tennis superstars. First there was the 21-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils in the men's draw, and now 22-year-old Russian Safina. Whilst women's tennis has been dominated by other stories in recent weeks – most notably the retirement of Justine Henin – people are starting to take notice of Safina and are quickly realising that her recent big-profile wins were not just the result of luck.

In Berlin, Safina's last tournament before Roland Garros, she not only claimed the title but defeated Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams, and Justine Henin along the way. Now, after dispatching Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, and Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the final of the French Open, Safina is chasing a fairytale ending to what has been an amazing few weeks for her.

Staging two of the greatest comebacks in women's tennis, Safina rallied from a set and match point down against both Sharapova and Dementieva before winning in dramatic fashion. Even Safina seems to think that her success is the result of destiny.

'So after winning her 12th straight match, Safina goes into today's final seemingly brimming with confidence'


“God kept me in this tournament,” Safina recently told reporters.

But it would appear that what has kept Safina in the tournament is her raw determination and psychological strength. Having the mental agility to come back from a set and match point down against two of the best players in the world is something that most competitors simply would not have. But for Safina, it seemed only right that she should achieve this incredible result in two consecutive matches.

"Once you went through this you always believe `Why not the second time?'" Safina said.

So after winning her twelfth straight match, Safina goes into today's final seemingly brimming with confidence, in spite of having to face what could be her toughest challenge yet.

Dropping only one set in her way to the final, Ana Ivanovic will be a formidable foe for Safina. Despite an erratic performance in her semi-final win over fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, 20-year-old Ivanovic will be keen to get her hands on her first ever Grand Slam title. After her disappointing performance in last year's final against Justine Henin, where she was soundly defeated 6-1 6-2, Ivanovic is keen to remember the lessons she gained from the encounter.

"I don't want to forget it, because it was a great learning experience," she said. "I learned a lot from Justine and the emotions I was feeling going on the court. I really hope I can step up this time and make one more step."

Despite going into the final as favourite, Ivanovic's victory is anything but certain. Her head-to-head record against Safina is 2-1, but as they have not played since 2006 such results are largely irrelevant. The slightest of slip-ups in Ivanovic's performance is all that Safina could need to dominate the match and claim a dream victory for herself. However Safina needs to not only maintain her form, but control her temper, if she is to stand a chance of winning.

Being significantly more in control of her emotions than older brother Marat, Safina is still prone to outbursts as we have witnessed in recent matches. She has shouted, used some colourful language, and even on one occasion against Dementieva took her frustrations out on some courtside geraniums with her racket.

Such uncontrolled emotions have evidently been the undoing of Marat Safin, so if Dinara is to succeed where her brother could not, she has to control her temper and channel it into her tennis performance instead of on-court meltdowns. If she is able to do this then the sky is the limit for the young Russian, and we could be witnessing a new world No. 1 in the making.

The final will undoubtedly be a very exciting one and either woman could easily triumph. It will all depend on who has the strength of mind on the day to overcome the challenges that the other throws at them.

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