Dinara Safina found powerful allies in compatriots Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva on Monday as an imposing Russian front was launched in defence of the besieged world number one.

Still without a Grand Slam title, Safina has again deposed 11-time major winner Serena Williams to begin her 26th week on top of the standings in 2009.

It's an elevation unlikely to stem the flow of criticism aimed at the 23-year-old, who is considered by many in the game to be unworthy of the top ranking.

But Kuznetsova, the French Open winner and a former US Open champion, threw her weight behind Safina.

"I think Dinara deserves it. She's there because she played the final of French Open, the final of Australian Open," said Kuznetsova, ahead of the season-ending, eight-woman WTA Championships which starts here on Tuesday.

"I'm not going to be the one to say you have to be No. 1 by winning a Slam. The criticism is always going to be there. There are people who cannot sit and just concentrate on their own life."

Dementieva, the Olympic champion, also lent her support to Safina.

"She's not the first one who's in the No. 1 position without winning a Grand Slam." said Dementiva.

"But she's the one who has won a lot of big events this season, and she was in the Grand Slam finals a couple of times. She worked very hard to get to the No. 1 position, and we have to respect this. She is very close to winning a Grand Slam title."

As well as the glaring absence of a major title from her CV, Safina has crumbled when the Grand Slam exposure was at its sharpest.

She won just three games in her Australian Open final loss to Serena Williams, was beaten again in straight sets by Kuznetsova in the French Open title match before a third-round loss to Petra Kvitova in the US Open.

Just as damaging was her 6-1, 6-0 loss to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semi-finals, a defeat which again illustrated her mental frailities.

But Safina, with three claycourt titles to her name this year, taking her career total to 12, insists she has given up listening to her critics.

"I don't care anymore. They can say whatever they want," said the 23-year-old.

"I have been in three Grand Slam finals and I've been in two semis. Last year I was winning every tournament and they were asking me why I'm not No. 1.

"This year I became No. 1, there is no Grand Slam. It's not that I don't want to win a Grand Slam. But you're not a robot that you can play one hundred percent all the time."

The WTA Championships, which boasts a 4.55 million dollar prize fund, sees the world's top eight split into two groups, played on a round-robin basis.

Safina, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus are in the White Group.

Serena and Venus Williams, who is the defending champion, Dementieva and Kuznetsova make up the Maroon Group.

The top two in each pool will play in the semi-finals with a 1.5 million dollar top prize awaiting Sunday's champion.

AFP

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