| Current Tournament |
Flushing Meadows, New York
August 27-Sep 9
Grand Slam
Singles:
2R: Bammer[19] def Dementieva[14] 6-1 6-2
2R: Dementieva[14] def Cetkovska 6-3 6-2
1R: Dementieva[14] def Cohen-Aloro 6-4 6-3
Doubles:
2R: Dementieva/Pennetta vs Raymond/Stosur[2]
1R: Dementieva/Pennetta def Laine/Wozniacki 6-4 6-1
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| Next Tournament/s |
US Open Aug 27-Sep 9
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| WTA Rankings |
1. Henin, Justine [1]
2. Sharapova, Maria [2]
3. Jankovic, Jelena [3]
4. Kuznetsova, Svetlana [5]
5. Ivanovic, Ana [4]
6. Chakvetadze, Anna [6]
7. Mauresmo, Amelie [7]
8. Petrova, Nadia [9]
9. Williams, Serena [8]
10. Bartoli, Marion[11]
11. Hantuchova, Daniela[10]
12. Schnyder, Patty [12]
13. Dementieva, Elena [15]
14. Williams, Venus[13]
15. Vaidisova, Nicole [14]
16. Safina, Dinara [16]
17. Hingis, Martina [17]
18. Golovin, Tatiana [18]
19. Peer, Shahar[19]
20. Bammer, Sybille [20]
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| Sony Ericsson Race |
1. Henin 3675
2. Jankovic 3475
3. Ivanovic 2707
4. Kuznetsova 2546
5. Sharapova 2340
6. Williams, S. 2141
7. Chakvetadze 2106
8. Williams, V. 1740
9. Petrova 1698
10. Hantuchova 1684
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16. Dementieva 1357
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| Past Tournament |
New Haven, Connecticut
August 20-26
Tier 2
Singles:
QF: Kuznetsova[1] def Dementieva[6] 4-6 6-3 3-0 ret. (nausea)
QF: Dementieva[6] def Bartoli[3] 6-4 6-2
2R: Dementieva[6] def Harkleroad 6-1 7-6(6)
1R: Dementieva[6] def Santangelo 6-2 3-6 6-0
Doubles:
Not entered
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| Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
| Elena to face Kutuzova |
6th-seeded Elena Dementieva got a scare from Martina Sucha yesterday when Sucha raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set of their first-round match yesterday at Roland Garros. Elena fought back to win the first set and eventually the match 7-6(3) 6-2.
Once Elena, known as a slow-starter, got her groove in the match yesterday, I don't think Sucha can do anything about the match anymore. Elena is very deadly when she's on as we all know. She had a pretty good 1st serve percentage in yesterday's match, getting 70% of her first balls in. Unfortunately, Elena served 8 double faults (which is actually quite average for her) and made 43 unforced errors during the match. On the bright side, she served an ace and made 30 winners compared to Sucha's 11 winners. The number of winners clearly states who the played better between the two.
Elena Dementieva will meet 17-year old Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova. Kutuzova is currently ranked 105 in the world rankings and has never met Dementieva in a match before. Kutuzova's win against American Vania King would surely give her some confidence going into her match against Dementieva. Kutuzova's Grand Slam debut was at the 2005 US Open where she lost in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze. She also lost in the first round of this year's Australian Open to Emilie Loit.
Anyway, Elena should limit her double faults in her next game and cut down her unforced errors as well. I think she should also keep the points shorter and be aggressive on court. In her last match, she only approached the net twice and won both points. She's fairly good at the net so I think she should come in more often. Anyway, I believe that her struggle in the first set against Sucha is good as she was able to fight and resist from losing. Sucha, in my opinion is a much better player (right now) and has more experience than Kutuzova so Elena should win this one more easily.
Doubles news:
Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta is entered in the doubles tournament of the French Open as the 9th seeds. They will face Maria Elena Camerin/Tathiana Garbin in the first round.
Davai Elena! |
posted by mjgrace22 @ 9:41 AM   |
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| Monday, May 29, 2006 |
| RG Rd 1: Dementieva takes on Sucha |
Featured in Court 1 1st round action taday at Roland Garros is 6th seed Elena Dementieva taking on unseeded Martina Sucha. This will be their first career meeting.
Sucha, ranked 66th from Slovakia, is one of the dangerous floaters around in th emain draw of the 2006 French Open. I don't have much to say about Sucha but I hope that Elena beats her easily, in straight sets I hope. Elena should start serving well in this match to prepare for her next matches.
If she pulls through this one (hopefully, she does), a tough road lies ahead. Possible 2nd round opponent is American teen Vania King who, in spite of her amateur status, is doing well this year. In the 3rd round, she will most likely meet Shahar Peer who is seeded 31st in this tournament. I'm very sure that Peer is overflowing with confidence coming in to Roland Garros after beating Anastasia Myskina in the Istanbul finals on Saturday. Aside from Istanbul, Peer also took home the crowns in Prague and Pattaya City earlier this year. This is possible Elena's first big test.
The potential 4th round meeting of Elena Dementieva and Martina Hingis will surely be a banner match if both lives up to the 4th round. It should be their 7th career meeting and 3rd since the comeback of Hingis. They're 3-all lifetime and 1-all this year, Dementieva winning in the Finals of Tokyo(carpet) and Hingis in Berlin(clay) 4th round. This is surely a match to watch.
On the same quarter with Elena lies none other than Kim Clijsters and Daniela Hantuchova, while on the same half resides Justine Henin-Hardenne, Anastasia Myskina, Ana Ivanovic and red-hot Nadia Petrova.
I'm not sure whether Elena entered in the Doubles tournament with Flavia Pennetta as the draw for Doubles has not been announced yet.
Davai Elena! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 10:18 AM |
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| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 |
| Lena disappoints Rome |
There's only one word to describe Elena Dementieva's quarterfinal match at the Italian Open against Dinara Safina: Disappointing. Safina crushed Dementieva 6-1 6-1 in just over an hour.
What's disappointing about this much is that Safina didn't play as well as she played against Kim Clijsters and how erratic Elena was last Friday. Her game was just off, really off.
She never did well in Rome anyway and this has been the farthest she got in Rome. And Elena usually backs up a sloppy tournament with a big bang on her next one. What's her next tournament again? Oh, it's Roland Garros! Isn't that where Elena had her first Grand Slam final in 2004? Oh yeah, that's exactly Roland Garros!
So here's to hope that Elena would have a good run at the French Open (hopefully her first slam) which starts this Sunday. Also hoping that she would have more than a good day per week during the entire duration of Roland Garros! Cheers Elena! We're all here for you!!
Davai Elena! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 4:46 PM |
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| Friday, May 19, 2006 |
| Rome QF: Dementieva targets Safina |
Elena Dementieva needed more than 2 hours to get past Anna Lena Groenefeld of Germany in third round action of the Italian Open in Rome. Dementieva defeated Groenefeld 7-6(1) 3-6 6-1. She will next face Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals.
Dementieva squandered a 4-2 and then 5-3 lead against Groenefeld during the first set. Groenefeld fought back to level the match at 6-6 and took the first set to tie-break. Elena was obviously pumped up during the tie-break as she scored 6 straight points to set up 6 set points. Elena then took the first set with a 6-1 score in the TB.
The second set's first game was one of the longest contested games in the match. I lost count of how many deuces there were during that game but Groenefeld saved 7 break points in that game to hold her serve. The next games were a breeze as Groenefeld raced to a 5-1 lead. When Dementieva tried to come back later in the 2nd set, I knew that Groenefeld is in trouble even if she won the second set 6-3. ANd I was definitely right as Dementieva cruised through the third set 6-1. I even felt like the first game of the second set was longer than the whole third set. Anyway, you really wouldn't want to take Dementieva to 3 sets coz Dementieva is always pumped in the third set. Dementieva's lack of match play really showed in this match and hopefully, she will have an easier time in her next match.
When the draw came out earlier this week, everyone was already anticipating a quarterfinal match between Elena Dementieva and Kim Clijsters. Unfortunately, Elena will not get her revenge from her defeat against Kim when Dinara Safina scored an upset and defeated Clijsters in straight sets. Safina is currently ranked No. 19 and is arguably one of the tour's most promising stars.
Dementieva and Safina has faced each other twice in the past and both matches went to 3 sets. Their first match was in the 1st round of the Berlin Open in 2003 where Safina won the match by default as Dementieva had to retire in the 3rd set. Their latest match was in th first round of the 2004 US Open where Dementieva triumphed after being a set down. Dementieva went on to the finals of the US Open that same year.
As we may all recall, Safina and Dementieva teamed up in that historic doubles match against Pierce and Mauresmo during last year's FedCup final to win the crown for Russia. Aside from that, these two have been friends for a long time now since Dementieva's first coach is also Safina's mother. So there is really a lot of history between these two.
Dementieva is a known head case when it comes to battling her compatriots and friends. Just look at her record against her good friend Anastasia Myskina if you don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, Dementieva should have the upper hand in this match because she is a much better mover than Safina. Safina is also a known head case so it's really difficult to say who has the mental edge in this match. But Safina should really have a lot of confidence coming in to this match after beating the tournament's heavy favorite Kim Clijsters and spoiling Clijsters bid to regain the No. 1 ranking at the same time.
Dementieva is now the highest ranked player left in the draw but it can't be said that she is now the favorite to win this title as she had mixed results on clay this season. So far, this has been Dementieva's best result in this tournament.
Davai Elena!!! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 8:39 AM |
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| Thursday, May 18, 2006 |
| Rome 3rd Round: Dementieva vs Groenefeld |
Elena Dementieva has received another bye when Shuai Peng withdrew before the match due to dizziness. Dementieva will now face German star Anna Lena Groenefeld in the third round of the Italian Open. This will be Elena's first match in the tournament.
Dementieva has already defeated Groenefeld in the past when they met at the second round of the Bali tournament in 2003. Dementieva cruised through that round 6-4 6-1. But that was almost 3 years ago when Groenefeld was not the solid top 20 player that she is right now. Groenefeld is currently ranked 14 in the world and she has been pulling off some good results lately. In February, she captured her first tour singles title in Acapulco. She also reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Amelia Island, and the semis at Charleston. Though this clay season, Groenefeld hasn't had much success. She withdrew from Warsaw due to injury and she fell in her opening match in Berlin last week.
So in this match, Dementieva has a slight advantage to Groenefeld. I said slight because she hasn't had any matches prior to this one so it might take her some time to get used to the clay here in Rome. She might possibly start slow in this match and Groenefeld could take advantage of it. But once Dementieva gets her rhythm, Groenefeld would have to defend well. Groenefeld is a known baseliner and Lena can surely slug it out with Groenefeld but she'd have to keep the points shorter to keep the upper hand. Groenefeld also has a very good serve so it will be a little more difficult for Elena to break her serve but I'm sure she'll manage. But Elena should also serve well in this match to win this one. I believe that Elena will win this match.
Davai Elena! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 9:07 AM |
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| Wednesday, May 17, 2006 |
| Dementieva takes on Peng |
Elena Dementieva will take on Shuai Peng of China later today on the second round action of the Italian Open. Shuai Peng defeated Dementieva in their only previous meeting in San Diego 7-5 6-4.
Peng is currently ranked 64 in the world ranking but her career-high singles ranking is 31. The 20-year old Chinese moved on to the second round when Lourdes Dominguez Lino retired while Peng was leading 6-3 3-0.
Shuai Peng could be a very tricky match for Elena. Obviously, the last time they met, her game bothered Dementieva. But they're playing on clay this time so I think that Elena has the advantage. And Peng recently hasn't been really playing as well as she did last year. Anyway, it looked like Lena's serve was alright in her last 2 tournaments and her double faults have decreased dramatically so if this continues, Lena can breeze through this round.
Davai Lena!
Doubles Withdrawal
Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta has withdrawn in the doubles. According to reports, Flavia felt some upper back pains and to make sure that it doesn't get worse, they withdrew. I hope Flavia is okay. And I hope they do well in Roland Garros. |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 8:28 AM |
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| Monday, May 15, 2006 |
| Italian Open Preview: Another lopsided draw |
When I saw the draw last night, I thought that this draw is much better than Berlin. The top half has Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis and Nadia Petrova while the bottom half has Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova. The top 4 seeds are Mauresmo, Clijsters, Sharapova and Petrova.
But then, Mauresmo and Sharapova both withdrew from the tournament. The stupid organizers didn't bother to change the draw at all so Elena Dementieva, who is now the 3rd highest seed, will still have to meet Kim Clijsters in the QFs. What a luck!
Anyway, we can't do anything about that now so no matter how much I rant about it, nothing will change. So here we go with my little dissection of Elena's draw.
As the 5th seed of the tournament, Dementieva has a bye in the first round. She may meet either Lourdes Dominguez Lino or Shuai Peng in the second round. She has never met Domingues Lino ever. On the other hand, she lost to Peng in their only previous match in San Diego last year.
Anna Lena Groenefeld is her most likely opponent in the third round. Dementieva leads Groenefeld 1-0 in head to head but they last met in 2003 Bali. Groenefeld is a different player now, so Elena has to be careful with this one.
In the Quarterfinals, Dementieva will seek for revenge when she meets Kim Clijsters. Although their long running head to head favors Clijsters at 10-3, they're last 5 meetings went 3-2 to Clijsters. All those 5 matches are all tight ones.
Potential Semifinals opponents are Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina while the top half of the draw is led by Nadia Petrova and Venus Williams.
Doubles
Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta are seeded 7th in the draw for this tournament. Last week in Berlin, the team has made a good run to the finals falling to Chinese duo Zheng Jie and Yan Zi 6-2 6-3 beating Hantuchova/Sugiyama and Petrova Groenefeld en route.
In the opening round, they will meet recent Rabat doubles champion Shahar Peer with Janette Husarova. In the second round, Bryanne Stewart will be out for revenge against this team as she teams up with fellow-Aussie Nicole Pratt. Potential QF opponents are the 2nd seeded team of Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs. If they get through the QFs, they will most likely meet Hantuchova/Sugiyama in the semis and then the top seeds Raymond/Stosur or 3rd seeds Huber/Navratilova in the finals.
Dementieva/Pennetta has a good chance in this tournament so I hope they both do well in the both the singles and doubles competition. |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 10:23 AM |
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| Saturday, May 13, 2006 |
| Elena/Flavia in Berlin Finals |
Really Amazing! Fifth seeds Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta has reached the doubles finals of the Qatar Telecom German Open by downing fourth seeds Nadia Petrova and Anna Lena Groenefeld 6-3 6-3. They will face Australian Open doubles champions Zi Yan and Zheng Jie.
Dementieva/Pennetta converted a whopping 86% (6/7) break points and was only broken once the entire match.
Davai Elena and Flavia! Play your best tomorrow and take your second title as a team in Berlin! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 11:08 PM |
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| Friday, May 12, 2006 |
| Bagel in a win |
Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta defeated the 2nd seeds, Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama 0-6 7-5 6-3 in a match which lasted a little more than two hours.
The first set of the match was clearly lopsided as Hantuchova/Sugiyama scored twice as much as Dementieva/Pennetta. But that bagel did not really matter that much as Dementieva/Pennetta took the second and third sets.
Dementieva and Pennetta's partnership has been really improving and it's obviously a good one. Their team really has a lot of potential and beating Hantuchova/Sugiyama is a clear proof. Hantuchova/Sugiyama is one of the best team in women's doubles and both girls have won a ot of doubles titles in their career.
Anyway, good match girls! Dementieva/Pennetta are now in the semis and I believe that they can win this tournament. They will either face Benesova/Krajicek or the 4th seeds Groenefeld/Petrova.
Davai Dementieva/Pennetta! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 7:49 PM |
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| Hingis' Sweet Revenge |
Martina Hingis played an attacking game against Elena Dementieva on the 3rd round of the Qatar Telecom German Open. Hingis won the match 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.
Hingis served first during the match but Dementieva broke her serve quickly. After her serve was broken, she raced to a 4-1 lead. Dementieva didn't just want to give the set away so she held her serve and broke back to stay in the set. But Hingis was determined to win the first set taking it at 6-3.
The second set was much quicker as Hingis played a very inspiring match. There were moments yesterday where you can see a glimpse of how Martina was during her days when she was world no. 1. She quickly dispatched Dementieva at 6-2.
Surprisingly, Dementieva committed only 2 DFs during her match against Hingis. The reason why she lost yesterday is not mainly because of her serve but because of Hingis' resilience and determination. Hingis was playing her shots almost perfectly and making winners here and there. And she committed a minimum number of errors. She was able to run down Elena's balls and put it back into play. Anyway, the match is actually much closer than the score line.
In spite of this loss, I still think that Dementieva has been improving especially with her serve. She only served 2 DFs during the whole tournament. Amazing noh? I really do believe that Elena's serve is now on its way to consistency.
Good news in Doubles
Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta routed Salerni/Stewart for a 6-4 4-6 6-2 win to get through to the QFs. They will now face the 2nd-seeded team of Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama. The team of Hantuchova and Sugiyama is a terrific one so they should be fighting hard to win this one. They can if they play well. Davai Elena and Flavia! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 8:42 AM |
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| Thursday, May 11, 2006 |
| Elena faces idol Hingis |
Elena Dementieva was cruising pass Julia Vakulenko when the latter retired due to dizziness while trailing 6-2 3-0. This victory booked Elena a rematch of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Final against her most favorite tennis player in the world, Martina Hingis.
During Elena's first round match, Elena didn't have problems breaking Valkulenko's serve. In fact, Valkulenko held serve only once during the entire match. And Elena only dropped her serve once. Wanna hear something nice? Elena served an ace during the match! Now, you wanna hear something surprising? Elena didn't serve a single double fault during the entire match! Yes, my friends... 0 DFs!
Alright, alright! The match didn't reach matchpoint and all that but what the hell?! Elena not serving a double fault in a match (or even a single set) is like Christmas in July! It's very rare and as a fan of Elena Dementieva, I am very happy. I hope that this is a sign that her serve, which really improved this year, is now on its way to consistency. This is a very good sign for Elena Dementieva's game.
Anyway, Elena will face Martina Hingis in the third round. Hingis will be looking to avenge her loss to Dementieva earlier this season. Dementieva leads Hingis in their Head to Head 3-2 with Dementieva winning the last 3 times they met. Note that this match will be the first time they're meeting on clay. The pair will be hitting the court at 1130a.m. local time today at the Steffi Graf Stadium.
This tournament is Hingis' second tournament on clay. Her first tournament was held last week in Warsaw where she had a 3-set tight loss against her rival, Venus Williams. She is now 3-1 this season on clay while Elena is 4-2 this season. Elena's losses came from Justine Henin-Hardenne in FedCup and Kim Clijsters in Warsaw.
The surface they were playing at Tokyo is very different from clay. In Tokyo, they were playing at supreme indoors where the ball tends to be very fast. The clay surface on the otherhand, is very slow and rallies are longer. The clay will neutralize Elena's groundies but Elena's fitness and athleticism is one of the best so this will be a key to today's game. She has to defend well and attack Hingis' serve in order to win this match. She also has to be aggressive and take care of her serve. If Elena serves well today, then there will be no problem.
The outcome of today's game is very hard to predict. But I still believe that Elena's groundstrokes and athleticism is above Hingis'. I'd also like to mention that in my opinion, Elena's serve is better than Hingis'. Although Hingis' serve is a little more consistent. There will surely be a lot of drama in tonight's match so I expect a three-set match from this two. But what does usually happens when Elena is playing a 3-set match? Oh yeah, she wins. :)
After Dementieva's match against Hingis, she will then proceed to Court 2 where she will play doubles with Flavia Pennetta against the team of Salerni and Stewart.
Davai Elena! Hope you have a very good day today! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 8:46 AM |
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| Wednesday, May 10, 2006 |
| Berlin 2nd Round: Dementieva vs Valkulenko |
Elena Dementieva will face 147th-ranked qualifier Julia Valkulenko in the second-round of the Qatar Total German Open in Berlin. Valkulenko defeated Top 50-er Polish Marta Domachowska in the first round with ease. This win surely gave Valkulenko some confidence coming in to the second round.
Dementieva has never faced Valkulenko in a match so this one will be their first career meeting. Their match will be held at Court 1 at 11a.m. today. Elena hates playing early so expect a slow start from her but she'll surely get her rhythm in time and will surpass Valkulenko in straight sets.
In other news, Martina Hingis defeated Flavia Pennetta in first round action yesterday. She will face Julia Schruff today. Supposed that both Dementieva and Hingis win their respective matches today, we will be treated with a Tokyo finals rematch in the 3rd round. As you may all recall, Dementieva crushed Hingis 6-2 6-0 in the finals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open earlier this year.
In Doubles, Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta cruised past the team of Katerina Bondareko and Hana Sromova 6-2 6-3 in the first round. In the first set, they led 5-0 before giving up 2 games and then taking the set. And on the second set, they trailed 0-3 before taking the next 6 games and the match.
They will next face Salerni/Stewart in the second round. They had a strong showing during the first round so I think they can manage the second round. Goodluck girls!
Davai Elena! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 9:23 AM |
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| Monday, May 08, 2006 |
| Berlin's Lopsided Draw |
This week, the Qatar Telecom German Open will be held in Berlin, Germany. The Qatar Telecom German Open is a $1,340,000 Tier I Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament. The Singles winner will receive $196,900 in prize money and 300 points in the world rankings. The top 8 seeds will receive a bye in the first round. The top 2 seeds are Amelie Mauresmo and Nadia Petrova respectively. Justine Henin-Hardenne and Patty Schnyder are seeded 3rd and 4th while Elena Dementieva is seeded 5th.
Draws were released today and it showed a very lopsided top-half of the draw. The top half is crowded by Dementieva, Henin-Hardenne, Mauresmo, Kuznetsova and Hingis, who are all in contention for that slot in the Finals. While the bottom-half could only boast of Patty Schnyder and Nadia Petrova. How much more lopsided can it be? Elena Dementieva received a bye in the first round and she will face either Marta Domachowska or Julia Valkulenko on the 2nd round. The 3rd round will surely be tough as she will most likely play against her idol Martina Hingis or her doubles partner Flavia Pennetta. That first round match of Pennetta and Hingis is surely one to watch as Hingis will be looking to avenge her SF defeat to Pennetta in Gold Coast. Whoever wins that match has a 90% chance of winning the 2nd round and might face Dementieva in the 3rd. Either way, the third round will be tough as it will involve lots of craft and emotions. Possible QF opponent for Dementieva is Amelie Mauresmo who started the year on fire but had a disappointing FedCup tie last month. Anna Chakvetadze, who reached the semis in Warsaw last week, has an outside chance of getting into the QFs. If Dementieva triumphs in the QFs, Justine Henin-Hardenne or Svetlana Kuznetsova might be waiting for her in the Semis. Overall, Elena has a very tough draw but this will be good chance for her to beat some top players and prepare more for Roland Garros. Davai Elena! Focus and do your best! Dementieva/Pennetta: Back in Doubles The doubles team of Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta are back in business this week at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Germany. Their team is seeded fifth and they will face the team of Katerina Bondarenko and Hana Sromova in the first round. If they pull through the first rounds of the draw, they might face the second-seeded team of Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama in the QFs and then fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova/Anna Lena Groenefeld on the Semis. The top half of the draw features top seeds Liezel Huber/Elena Likhovtseva, 3rd seeds and Australian Open doubles champion Zheng Jie/Yan Zi, and 2004 Olympics Doubles Gold Medalists Li Ting/Sun Tiantian. Dementieva and Pennetta has not played together since the Australian Open (if my memory serves me right) because of their conflicting schedule. Its really nice to see them play together again after a long time. They've won a doubles title and reached the Finals of the US Open last year. Let's hope that they do well in this tournament. Go Elena and Flavia! P.S.
Kudos to Yonex for Elena's new top. Simple clothes really suit Elena more and this new top looks greate on her. I hope we don't see that top that Yonex made her wear during the start of this season. |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 9:33 AM |
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| Saturday, May 06, 2006 |
| Not that she can't, she just wasn't able to |
Oh, bad news for me...
Kim Clijsters defeated Elena Dementieva 7-5 6-4. It was so close. Elena started really well today but Kim got her rhythm and suddenly fired from all cylinders. Anyway, congrats to Kim. I hope she does well on the finals but I hope she beats Kim the next time they meet.
Elena should start preparing for Berlin now. I hope she does well there. She had a good run here in Warsaw and due to Patty Schnyder's poor performance here, she'll be back ranked as 8th in the world on Monday. She can still rise in the rankings and have a better seeding before Roland Garros as she's only defending 1 point before RG.
Good luck to Elena on Berlin!!! |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 8:33 PM |
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| Warsaw SF: Can Elena beat Kim twice in a row? |
Elena Dementieva defeated Agnieszka Radwanska in a very dramatic but effective manner 5-7 6-3 6-1. Now that she's through the semifinals, the question now is: can she beat Kim twice in a row?
Before I answer that question, let's see what happened to the QF match earlier. Elena committed 8 DFs (which is about average) but had 42 winners during the entire match. In the first set, Elena did not play bad at all. Radwanska played intelligently and she was hitting the balls really clean. But after that set, it seemed that she can't play that consistently when she's a little tired. Dementieva, being as she is, can get back a lot of balls most players can't and she did that well tonight. It was a good game for Elena and probably, it's good that she had to struggle today before she faces Kim in the semis tomorrow. Anyway, kudos to Radwanska. She did her country very proud and the WTA has truly found a new upcoming player.
Let's now go back to the question I raised earlier. Can Elena beat Kim tomorrow? Absolutely yes. But all depends on which Elena and Kim shows up tomorrow. If the ideal Elena and Kim plays on the court tomorrow, then we'll all be seeing a great match tomorrow. Kim is a great player and a good champion at that. Elena has to play her shots consistently and confidently. The way she played Kim in the FedCup two weeks ago, she has to do the same tomorrow. Kim is no pushover, we all know that. But if Lena serves well, she will absolutely win this one. It's safe to say that this match is up for grabs and tomorrow's match will be dramatic. Whoever is more aggressive will win this one. |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 12:28 AM |
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| Thursday, May 04, 2006 |
| Warsaw Quarterfinals: Dementieva vs Radwanska |
Elena Dementieva needed just an hour to beat Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2 6-0 in the second round of the J&S Cup tournament in Warsaw, Poland. Of all the points contested during the match, Elena won two-thirds of it. What's more is that she only gave up 4 points in the second set. To add to a very good game that Elena played, she served 2 aces and committed only 3 double faults. How many times do we see Dementieva serve less than 5 DFs? Rarely. And oh, her opponent was never able to hold her serve. :)
Next up for Dementieva is Polish-native Agnieszka Radwanska. This is the 17-year old wildcard's first main draw WTA Tour tournament and she has already upset 2 Top 40 players. She upset Anastasia Myskina in the first round and crushed Klara Koukalova in the second round. Radwanska is ranked 309 in the world. She is also the reigning Junior Wimbledon champ.
On paper, it seems that Radwanska is no match to Dementieva but she is not to be taken that easily. In her last 2 matches, she proved that she is an upcoming star of the tour and that she's a very dangerous opponent. Dementieva should not take her lightly and concentrate on her game. She should continue serving well and show Radwanska that she has a long way to go and needs more experience. Experience is Dementieva's primary advantage in this match. Radwanska will surely have the home-crowd support so that will be her advantage.
Radwanska showed everyone that she can be the future of women's tennis. But she still lacks experience. She made a good run in this tournament and her country is surely proud of her. But I feel that this will be the end of the tournament for her. Elena's experience and groundstrokes will prevail Radwanska's gutsiness in straight sets. |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 4:56 PM |
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| Welcome!!! |
Welcome!!!
I've decided to move my Elena Dementieva Fan Blog here as I find it easier posting in blogspot.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my posts and feel free to comment on them!
Thanks for dropping by! :) |
| posted by mjgrace22 @ 3:55 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: mjgrace22
Home: Philippines
About Me: Obviously, I'm a big fan of tennis. My favorite female tennis player is Elena Dementieva. I'm just a simple person with simple dreams.
See my complete profile
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