INQUIRER Sports

TOKYO -- Russia's Dinara Safina says she is striving to follow in the footsteps of her Grand Slam champion brother Marat, as she climbs up the rankings toward the top spot he once held on the men's tennis tour.

The 22-year-old Safina, who reached the French Open final and the US Open semi-finals this year, powered past her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open here Sunday for her fourth WTA title of the season.

The victory lifted Safina to a career-high ranking of third in the world and marked her ninth tournament win since her first victory in 2002 at Sopot as a 16-year-old qualifier.

"I'm happy. I just want to continue and be happy, healthy and I'll push myself as hard as I can to get as far as I can," she told reporters after the Pan Pacific final.

"I just hope that this win here in Tokyo makes me more confident and I can just keep on going," she said.

Her brother, Marat Safin, won the US Open in 2000 and reached the top of the ATP rankings in November that year. The 28-year-old also won the Australian Open in 2005.

Safina's victory was her 41st in 46 matches, according to the WTA website, and her sixth against Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, in 10 encounters.

"I'm just feeling great. I've been playing here this whole week the best tennis I've ever played," she said.

"It's obviously nice to hold a trophy in your hands. I never had this kind of trophy, so it makes it special."

Safina attributed her successes this season to her full trust in coach Zeljko Krajan.

"That's the only way, the only key to success. You have to trust somebody, because it's very difficult to make it to the top," said Safina.

"We have a very good relationship. We are very close friends," she said.

She also credited her fine performance in Tokyo to the loss of about six kilos (13 pounds).

?I was a little bit heavier before and it was difficult to compete with the top 10 players, because you have to be one step faster than they are and the direction has to be faster,? she said.

"For me, to make that step to get faster, I had to lose some weight. It's also kind of part of the preparation," she said.

Safina qualified for the season-ending elite championships in November in Doha, joining Serbian duo Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, US star Serena Williams and Russia's Elena Dementieva.

"I really was struggling so much for four years," she said. "I think this year is the time that finally I know what I was looking for."