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| Birth Name(s) : Elena Dementieva |
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Full Elena Dementieva Biography
Elena Vyacheslavovna Dementieva (pronounced: L-e-nuh de-MENT-ye-vuh Russian: Елена 'ячеславовна Дементьева (help·info)); born October 15, 1981, Moscow), is a professional tennis player from Russia.
Dementieva played and won her first international tournament, Les Petit As, in France at the age of 13. In 1997, she entered the WTA top 500. She turned professional in 1998 and entered the top 100 in 1999.
In 2000, she entered the top 20 by winning more than 40 singles matches for the second straight year and earned more than U.S. $600,000. She became the first woman from Russia to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Dementieva won the silver medal, losing to Venus Williams in the gold medal match 6-2, 6-4. In 2000, Dementieva was named the WTA tour's Most Improved Player.
In May at the French Open, Dementieva reached her first Grand Slam final, defeating former top ranked Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round, Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, and Paola Suarez in the semifinals, all in straight sets. Dementieva lost to compatriot Myskina in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final. (The last female Russian Grand Slam finalist was Dementieva's coach at the time, Olga Morozova, at 1974's French Open and Wimbledon.)
Later that year at the U.S. Open, after a first round loss at Wimbledon to Sandra Kleinova, Dementieva reached her second Grand Slam final, defeating Mauresmo and Jennifer Capriati en route. Countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dementieva in straight sets in the final, becoming the third consecutive Russian Grand Slam winner. Following the U.S. Open, Dementieva won her first title in Hasselt and reached the Moscow finals for the second time, losing to Myskina.
In 2005, Dementieva reached six semifinals, the most important being at the U.S. Open. She also reached the final in Charleston, losing to Justine Henin, and Philadelphia, losing to Amelie Mauresmo despite serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set. In the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, Dementieva defeated top ranked Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) for her second victory over a current No. 1 player. In the semifinals, she lost to Mary Pierce 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The momentum of the match with Pierce changed in Pierce's favor when, with Dementieva up a set, Pierce received 12 minutes of on-court medical treatment. Partnering Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Dementieva reached her second doubles final at the U.S. Open.
Following the U.S. Open, Dementieva helped Russia repeat as Fed Cup champions, beating France 3-2 in the final. All three points came from Dementieva, as she avenged her loss to Pierce at the U.S. Open, beat Mauresmo, and then won the deciding doubles match with partner Dinara Safina. At the WTA Tour Championships, Dementieva lost all three round robin matches against Mauresmo, Pierce, and Kim Clijsters with the same score each time: 6-2, 6-3.
On grass, Dementieva reached the s'Hertogenbosch semifinals, losing to Michaella Krajicek despite holding a match point, and the Wimbledon quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Dementieva lost to fourth seeded Sharapova 6-1, 6-4.
In August, Dementieva won the tournament in Los Angeles by defeating Jelena Janković in the final 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. En route to her sixth career title, she defeated everyone who had beaten (or, in the case of the U.S. Open, would beat) her at the 2006 Grand Slam tournaments—Schruff in the second round, Peer in the third round, Sharapova in a semifinal (for the first time since 2003), and Janković in the final.
In 2007 Dementieva won two titles and reached three semifinals with five quarterfinal appearances as well, with her best showing at the slams in Australia, reaching the fourth round. After her first semifinal of the year in Tokyo, Dementieva had a rib fracture in Antwerp, retiring in the second round, and was off the tour for nine weeks, leaving the top 10 for the first time in April after nearly four years at the top.
Dementieva won her fourth event back on tour at the Tier III event in Istanbul, her first title on red clay. She was upset in the third round of the French Open by Marion Bartoli the following week. Three weeks later she lost to Bartoli again in the quarterfinals of Eastbourne 6-1, 6-0 for her worst, score-wise, loss of the year. She reached the San Diego and New Haven semifinals and Los Angeles quarterfinals in the summer hardcourt season, with early losses in Toronto and the US Open.
In her fall season, she reached two successive quarterfinals in Beijing and Stuttgart—defeating Mauresmo and Hantuchova in a row at the latter event, before falling to Henin in the quarterfinals. At her home event in Moscow, Dementieva won the biggest title of her career defeating Serena Williams in the final 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 for her first WTA main draw win over Williams as well.
²The "Overall Win-Loss" row includes main draw and Fed Cup wins and losses; results from qualifying and ITF, if included, equate to 427-220. |
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