Dinara Safina believes the experience she gained from her first grand slam final appearance last year will stand her in good stead.
Russian has eyes firmly on maiden grand slam
Dinara Safina believes the experience she gained from her first grand slam final appearance last year will stand her in good stead for Saturday's showdown with Serena Williams.
The Russian suffered a straight sets defeat to Ana Ivanovic at the French Open last May but hopes the nerves she felt that day will not return in the final of the Australian Open.
Safina has since undergone a transformation that has seen her lose over a stone in weight and her world ranking shrink as a result - victory over Williams will see her become world number one.
"It was unexpected, you know. When I got there nobody believed I can be there," Safina conceded.
"I was like 'take one match at a time, one match at a time' then suddenly you're in the French Open final.
"All of a sudden you want to win, there's all the pressure. I hope all the experience I went through in that match will help me for my match on Saturday."
And she believes she is much tougher mentally now as she tries to deny her opponent a 10th grand slam title, gaining plenty from her victory over local hope Jelena Dokic in the quarter-finals.
"I stayed very tough mentally there, I didn't panic," she added. "It made me stronger. I hope the crowd are going to be behind me now, as I'm the underdog.
"Everyone has their own personality. I have this one that if I will not pump myself up I will just be too calm and there will be no fire coming out of myself."
And the Russian will require all the fire she can muster to topple Williams.
Safina did beat the American in three sets in Berlin last year but has taken just one set off her opponent in five other defeats, the last coming at the season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Doha.
