One day after Roger Federer personified patience on a tennis court, Dinara Safina evidently learned a few lessons of her own.

Only 24 hours after Federer overcame a confident and hard-hitting opponent to win a full-length match, Safina–the No. 1 seed in the women’s portion of the 2009 French Open–withstood a ball-blasting barrage from Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka to stride into the semifinals at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year. Safina’s 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory, produced in just under 2 hours, represented yet another instance in which an elite player was revealed more by her mindset than by her strokes and technique.

The great teachable moment of Federer’s Monday win over Tommy Haas emerged from the Swiss champion’s ability to ride out a storm, endure an opponent’s best tennis, grind for a certain length of time, and then capitalize on a turning point before a dwindling supply of opportunities ultimately drained away. In this Tuesday tilt on Court Philippe Chatrier, a studious Safina–graced with the world No. 1 ranking despite the lack of a major championship–evidently followed Fed’s patient pattern.

Azarenka, one of the rising stars on the WTA Tour, wouldn’t allow Safina to breathe in the first set. The Belorussian, seeded ninth in Paris, crushed all of her groundstrokes with pinpoint placement to both corners of the court. Ripping 10 winners while committing only 1 unforced error, Azarenka steamrolled to the first set in only 23 minutes. When a set goes by that quickly, the difficulty for the losing player transcends the ability to win games; tennis pros who lose lightning-fast sets must also find ways to lengthen rallies and merely get a feel for the ball. Without establishing some sort of rhythm, the idea of winning games and sets never gains much of any credibility. Safina, being blown off the court by her 19-year-old foe, had to exploit a moment of opportunity, much as Federer did the day before on the very same stadium court.

That moment came in the second game of the second set, though few could have known it at the time.

Serving at 0-1 and 30-all, Safina–though on court for only half an hour at that point in the proceedings–found herself already enmeshed in a must-hold situation. If her already electric adversary gained a break lead in the second stanza, Safina had to face the realistic prospect of a shockingly quick exit from France. The towering irony surrounding Safina’s situation was the fact that after losing just seven games in her first four matches, the world No. 1 had conceded the same amount of games in just 30 minutes against Azarenka. The only important question, however, was this: Would Safina allow herself to fold when finally punched in the mouth by an opponent good enough to make her sweat? In that love-1, 30-all situation, women’s tennis watchers got their answer.

Safina pounded two quality first serves to hold for 1-all, and in those two brief points, a small but real measure of confidence finally flowed through Safina’s veins. Azarenka’s runaway momentum had been halted, and for the first time all day, the ninth-seeded underdog had to think about the enormity of the occasion.

In the next game, at 1-all, Azarenka’s previously airtight focus suddenly crumbled, and much like Federer-Haas the day before, the worm would slowly but surely turn on the terre battue of Chatrier.

Azarenka fought off a break point and had a point for 2-1, but a pair of double faults, followed by an errant backhand, donated a break to Safina. The Russian would wobble as the second set continued, attaining but then frittering away a 4-1 lead. However, when crunch time came calling at the business end of the second set, it was Azarenka who flew off the handle to an even greater degree. The temperamental teenager, throwing or threatening to throw her racket after almost every point, lost her serve at 4-all to squander the comeback she had just made. Then, after going up love-30 on Safina’s serve at 4-5, Azarenka tossed in three more errors to even the match at a set apiece. With Safina establishing more topspin on her shots and playing with a safer margin, Azarenka could no longer hit through the court. Once the rhythm vanished from her game, the Belorussian began to spray the ball, and that’s when the racket tosses and woe-is-me gestures began to become a regular scene in this consequential collision.

In the third set, Safina–less than spectacular but ultimately successful in changing the complexion of the combat–would dig out of one tough service game after another. Pushed to love-30 in her first service game of the set, and to 15-30 in her second game, the Russian always acquired the resources and the steadiness needed to get out of jail. These repeatedly difficult but gutsy escapes unnerved Azarenka, who lost the plot after holding for 2-3. Safina scratched out one more difficult hold for 4-2, and then raced through the final two games to sprint to the semis. She was down and dusted after just 23 minutes of misery, but Dinara Safina–intent on winning her first major title in Paris–acted like a player who wanted to stick around at Roland Garros.

Resilience and determination are the hallmarks of champions. Roger Federer–if he was watching on TV–had to appreciate the way in which an often-doubted world No. 1 actually acted the part on a sun-baked Tuesday in France.

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