Ljubicic advice set Safina on path to glory

By Pritha Sarkar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hovering outside the world's top 10 for three years, Dinara Safina must have felt that she was destined to stay in the shadow of her more illustrious brother Marat Safin.

A recommendation in 2007 from Ivan Ljubicic changed all that.

Ljubicic advised the services of fellow Croatian Zeljko Krajan as a coach and since they hooked up, Russian Safina has been almost unstoppable.

"Last year I knew that after U.S. Open I was going to stop (working) with my ex coach," the world number six told reporters after dispatching Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

"I wanted to work with Heinz Guenthardt but he could not travel a lot. So we needed to find a guy who could.

"I need to thank Ivan Ljubicic because he advised me (about Krajan). After (the) Australia (Open in January) I decided, okay, I'm going to work with him.

"First we'll give it a try until French Open. It turned out really good and now we working together.

"So I think I need to thank Ljubicic or invite him for dinner," grinned Safina, who is one of six players who could top the rankings at the end of the season's final grand slam.