Dinara Safina, who has been battling back problems for the past year and a half, says she will take an indefinite break from tennis. The three-time Grand Slam finalist told Russia’s Sport Express that the injury has not only set her back physically, but mentally. After playing reasonably well at Indian Wells and Miami, the 25-year-old re-injured her back at a tournament in Marbella last month and it began to feel gradually worse.
"I don't know how long my time out is going to last because I don't want to torture myself and my body anymore," Safina said. "I'm just tired of hearing constant questions from my coach during training, 'How is your back? Can you do this exercise?' I'm just tired of fighting with myself. At the moment I can't do anything tennis-wise. When I can do certain moves without feeling lots of pain, then I would consider resuming my training. Right now I don't care when I might return—this summer during the American hard courts, or towards the end of the season or next year, I’ll take as much time as I need."—Matthew Cronin