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Dementieva stops Serena

Dementieva stops Serena

AAP Thursday 15 January 2009 50 Comments »

Russian Elena Dementieva stretched her winning streak to nine matches with a dominant straight sets victory over a subdued Serena Williams to reach the final of the Medibank International Sydney on Thursday.

The world number four pounded away the winners, only dropped her serve once, and gave the tournament top seed no way out in reeling off a 6-3, 6-1 win in 68 minutes.

That set up a rematch of last year’s Beijing Olympics gold medal final against second seed Dinara Safina in an all-Russian night decider on Friday.

Dementieva’s form matched the blistering heat as the Olympic champion sent the nine-time grand slam champion crashing out, breaking Williams’s serve five times for her third win over the reigning US Open champion in seven meetings.

Dementieva is coming off her tournament victory in last week’s Auckland Classic where she didn’t drop a set in five matches and beat compatriot Elena Vesnina in the final.

Williams was backing up from her 2hr 40min struggle with Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki late Wednesday, when she saved three match points before prevailing in a third-set tie-breaker.

“I wasn’t moving as I wanted to today,” Williams said. “I gave it away more than anything. I made a lot of errors and made her look like a champ, really. I just pretty much gave her the match.”

While Dementieva is looking to go to Melbourne and improve on her lamentable Australian Open record, where she hasn’t got past the fourth round in 10 attempts, three-time champion Williams is expected to go into the year’s first grand slam as the women’s favourite.

Safina broke through a wall of intense heat and the resistance of Japan’s Ai Sugiyama to reach her first Medibank International Sydney final at the fourth attempt.

The Russian world number three spent 1hr 45min battling the 29th-ranked Sugiyama in a 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) scorcher before clinching a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory.

Safina will be bidding for her 10th career WTA title against Dementieva.

The semi-finalists did not have the sanctuary of the extreme heat policy implemented at the Australian Open where play for women’s matches is suspended once the temperature reaches 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

“I don’t know when it was worse, yesterday or today. It was pretty hot even (when) I was warming up before the match outside of the court,” Safina said.

“I was just standing there, and I was like, I cannot move. But it’s not an excuse, because it’s (as) hot for her and for me.”

Safina, last year’s French Open runner-up, is already enjoying her best results in an Australian campaign and has yet to drop a set this week.


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  • Karen

    Congrats Elena on your huge victory. I love watching you play. You are so powerful and fit. Good luck in the semis against Dinara and at Melbourne Park. You are off to a fantastic start in 09.

  • Greg Wong

    Fantastic! Glad that Elena won. Such a great personality and great ground strokes. Sorry Serena fans, but I’m no fan of hers in any way.

    Come on , Elena! :)

  • Ben

    Im stunned

  • Bruce

    I am a big fan of Serena Williams but she really should try and be more gracious in defeat!
    Congratulations Elena Dementieva for BEATING Serena Williams ;-)

  • Yury

    Elena surprises us again and again last couple years as Dinara does. I thought many years watching them from Russia that both are permanent losers and never play tennis like world best players like Sharapova. Hopefully, I was not right.

  • le ga

    continue doing that
    serena
    you hae done a goo
    job
    thet’s what they call sport
    good job girl

  • ASB Classic

    Go Elena!!!!!!!!!
    She deserved it after an outstanding match!

  • Essie

    Elena played a beautiful game with great shots and great court coverage, she was a clear winner today. Whether or not Serena was tired from last night, she was outgunned all the way. Backing up after a late night is part of the game, and most professional players realise this occurs from time to time. They also realise that taking out your frustrations at being thrashed by putting down your opponent is bad form. Congratulations Elena, your win was well deserved.

  • Nat

    never underestimate the underdog

  • Mike

    I have no problem with trash talking it puts more pressure on the talker to back it up and Serena backs up her talk. I remember her saying Justine hit a lot of lucky shot at the US Open then annihilated her the next time they played 6-2 6-0 in Miami. This is the best thing that could happen to Serena because I think now she realizes she can’t take Dementieva lightly and wait for her to start double faulting the match away. A Serena/Dementieva match at the Aussie Open will be a rumble in the jungle for sure. Must see tv!

  • Craig

    The one thing I have never liked about Serena Williams is she is such a poor sport when she loses and she is never gracious in defeat.

    Well done Elena.

  • serena love

    i’m depressed.
    serena shouldve won

    hope dinara wins the final =]

  • linda

    Well donen elena. I watched this girl play on Wednesday and after an extremely testing hot day she came through to a winner. It is nice to see some new faces doing well. All the best!!!

  • James

    WELL DONE ELENA!!!! you’re in great form, hope u will have a good match against safina 2moro night =).

    if u can win 2moro, then winning 2 titles in 2 weeks will be a HUGE confidence booster!!! good luck elena!!!! =)

  • Brad

    Any player who can make grand slam finals with no serve to speak of, as Dementieva has done on several occasions must have a lot of skill and talent. All she needed was to improve her serve and confidence and it looks like she’s done that so look out for her.

  • spearmint

    Serena is 100 miles better than Ele, how many grand slams has she won? cant compare, this is just a warm up game for the big one(ausie open) , she knows where the money is, take the big cheques babe, i love you!

  • Pica_pica

    Congratz Elena! Nice win!

  • Rhys

    I think we can all admitt that Serena is FAR BETTER than Elana Dementiava. I think its unfare how she wa sup till 10:30 playin last night and should have played 2 nite in sted of the after noon. She was still recovering as any of us would b, she difenantly didnt play her best as she hasnt been this tournament and if they both played there best serena would have com out on top, I am the BIGGEST SERENA WILLIAMS FAN and although shes no.2 in the world it doesnt mean she wont loose and wen she does u IDIOTS should just give her a break, CMON SERENA….I sure hope Dinara SMASHES Elena in the final!!!!

  • jonathon

    WELL DONE ELENA… YOU DESERVE TO REAP THE FRUITS OF ALL YOUR DEDICATION. SOME OF US BELIEVED THAT YOU WOULD MAKE IT RIGHT TO THE VERY TOP.

  • Sav

    After Serena’s effort against Sam Stoser, it was only a matter of time before she got rolled. A heap of improvement is needed before she can win the Aus Open.

  • Ivan Zamoghny

    Elena, you are the best!!!!

  • Renvi

    I’m surprise that elena won,
    because I predicted that would be serena victory.
    anyway, elena wins in straight set, that’s what I want.
    and hope that elena win the final. :D

  • Rhys

    I donno why every1 is goin Elena, shes not that good, whos the 1 who won US$22million whos the 1 whos won the Aussie Open 3 times, Wimbledon 2 times, Roland Garros 1 time and the USOpen 3 times. Ummmm,, SERENA WILLIAMS od course, the BEST player eva, u guys are so excited coz some young girl beat her, well ive got news 4 u, it wont happen again… I LUV U SERENA

  • JM

    “I made her look like the champ”… or she could have said, “She made me look like an amateur”.. Come on Serena, a little bit of praise for your opponent!

  • Jose

    Hearing from all the negativity is quite hilarious; keep it up please as it feeds Serena motivation!
    Remember when Serena won against Sharapova two years ago? Serena lost a tournament before the AO, thus upsetting her and giving her fuel for the AO.

    Don’t underestimate Serena because she proves people wrong all the time.
    I’m not surprised with Serena’s comment against Dementieva because I know what Serena is fully capable of, and her display against Dementieva was the complete antithesis of what her talent can produce.

    Everybody has their bad days, and the fact that Serena can be optimistic from a loss right before the AO bodes well.

    Thanks! =)

  • Tristan

    Elena won 3 last matches against Serena, so Serena is not better than Elena anymore. Shame on Serena for excuses by her defeat. Her blindness will cost more defeats later.

  • beggurl

    Maybe we all have to learn to be winners and losers, they both are good tennis players, Serena has her track record and Elena is up and coming. Best of luck to the both of you, I’m sure that both the young ladies took mental notes during this match and we’ll see who benefits from this lesson, in Melborne. Good luck ladies! The best lady will win, no doubt!

  • Hearley

    I am a fan of Serena Williams, but good job Elena. Serena cannot win them all, but she has won 9 majors and she knows what it takes to win on the big stage. Keep the fight, Serena.

  • debit thomas

    serena still the best female tennis player in my book. just watch the Aus Open. For all thoes Serena hatter, stopped!!!!!

  • Res

    Who cares about what they say. Lena is my angel. Really appealing… charming… alluring…

    Keep it up girl. Will pray for your success…

  • Manuel

    ¡Sublime, Dementieva!

  • Michael

    Sheesh, don’t expect Serena to give her opponent any credit unless she wins…

  • corunhes

    Venga Serena, animo y a por el Open de Australia que los años impares te toca ganar, Suerteeee

  • Fercho_latam

    Nice win! obviously that wasn’t the real Serena (tired one actually) but beyond that, Elena played better than SW.
    Deserved win, hope she can get this title and a nice deep run in Melbourne (a title would be great!!)
    Favorites for AO: Serena or Ana

    Quite sad cuz MaSha wont defend her crown :(

  • jasper

    serena shows no respect with her excuses, you can’t be a winner everytime!

  • pdb1974

    Serena can never admit she was outplayed. She does not know how to be gracious in defeat. She is way to out of shape to win the Aussie Open. Congrats Elena!!!!!!

  • Gregory

    Agreed that in their best form, Serena is a better player, although her style of game is rather monotonous, power, power and more power.

    However, she is such a sore loser. I’ve never heard her praise her opponent for being the better player on the day. Venus is much more gracious(although early in her career she made not nice comments either, but she has matured since).

    It makes me laugh when I hear comments from Serena, because it’s just plain stupid… like “I played badly today and she made some lucky shots”. I remember her saying something like that about Justine in the US OPEN 2007 and even the American public went against her somewhat. Not playing your best and saying it is fine, but please also say congratulations to the other player, played better than me today.

  • dementieva #1

    well done elena!! you deserved to win and no matter what anyone says you were the better player on the day! serena needs to accepot that maybe there are players out there that can beat her and she needs to stop making excuses and just accept her! elena this is your year keep i up and good luck in the final!!

  • Sal

    Serena, you are correct when you state that you gave away the match, but it doesn’t mean you didn’t lose girl. Stop, playing like you aint interested in being on the court! Yes, you can and have beaten Elena without a prob, lets just hope you show up to play at the Aussie open; would love to see you get your 10. Elena, I wouldn’t get my hopes up over this win, you ain’t nothing special.

  • http://tennis-column.blogspot.com/ MMT

    Congratulations to Elena for a job well done. That will give her a big boost of confidence going into the Australian Open, and it will be very interesting to see if she can break her Grand Slam duck in Melbourne.

    Based on the short excerpt from her interview, it would appear that Serena was less than gracious in defeat, but this is certainly not the first time that’s happened (as Mike, ironically pointed out).

    It’s always nice when a great champion is classy in victory as she is in defeat, but no such luck with Serena. What a disappointment.

  • Vince

    after reading the comments above it is obvious that Serena and her fans are such sour losers.

    i love you elena! i know you will win this tournament and the aussie open

  • czosnek

    Elena, this is wonderful start in season!!!

  • czosnek

    Elena, pięknie grasz w tym roku!!!!!

  • lostn

    Well done Elena! Great win. I hope you win Sydney and the australian open too!

    Serena lacks the grace of a champion, in both her strokes and demeanor. I’m glad someone put her in her place.

  • pandora

    Doesn’t Serena Williams have any dignity? She was well and truly beaten but once again cannot accept that she was out-played and fairly beaten by a better and much more gracious player.

  • Ricardo

    Serena-
    Oh how gracious when she wins
    but when she loses- just admit it S you got thumped.

  • dooby wacka

    I would have been frustrated if my opponent gave up like Serena did. I wouldn’t have felt like it would have been an actual win…

  • jamie lee

    I loved watching your game against Serena!It was great. Wish you good luck in the final. Hope it goes well!!!Can’t wait to watch!

  • Jay

    Serena may be the overall better player and is more accomplished than Dementieva, but Dementieva tries so much more harder than Serena due to her lack of a formidable serve. People need to give credit to Dementieva for putting so much effort into her fitness and groundstrokes to counter a weak serve. If Dementieva had Serena’s serve, she would be beating her all the time. Even now, she doesn’t have a top 10 serve, but she beat Serena the last two times because she is a great fighter and she busts her ass out on the courts with or without a great serve.

  • Bryan

    There’s a reason why Venus is the older sister, much more graceful and a better winner too. Congrats on another tournament Elena, now please keep it up in the AO.

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