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| Home > athletes > Elena Dementieva > Full Biography | |||||||||||||
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Elena Dementieva Biography |
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| Elena Vyacheslavovna Dementieva better known as Elena Dementieva, 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 1999, Dementieva represented Russia in the Fed Cup final against the United States, scoring Russia's only point when she upset Venus Williams 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), recovering from a 4-1 third set defecit. She played her first Grand Slam main draws, qualifying for the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon and receiving a direct entry into the U.S. Open. She reached the second round at the Australian Open and French Open, made a first round exit at Wimbledon, and reached the third round of the U.S. Open. 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. 0,000. 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. 2001 was the second straight year in which Dementieva finished in the WTA's top 20. During the year, she became the top ranked Russian player, a position previously held by Anna Kournikova since December 1997. In 2002, Dementieva and her partner Janette Husarova of Slovakia reached the final of the U.S. Open and won the year-ending WTA Tour Championships. In singles, Dementieva defeated a top ranked player for the first time, beating world No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-2 in a quarterfinal in Moscow. Dementieva reached the final of that tournament, losing to Jelena Dokic. Dementieva's breakthrough year was 2004. In Miami, she defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Nadia Petrova in the semifinals. Dementieva then lost to the top seeded and two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-1. On April 5, she reached her highest singles ranking at sixth in the world. With fifth ranked Anastasia Myskina and ninth ranked Petrova, it was the first time that three Russians appeared in the WTA top 10 simultaneously. In May at the French Open, Dementieva reached her first Grand Slam final, defeating former top ranked Davenport in the fourth round, 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. 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 Amélie 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 Henin Hardenne, and Philadelphia, losing to 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 Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) for her second victory over a current No. 1 player. 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 Amélie 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 Clijsters with the same score each time: 6-2, 6-3. Dementieva started slowly in 2006. After losing to Kim Clijsters in an exhibition in Hong Kong, she lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Julia Schruff. But immediately following that tournament, Dementieva won her first Tier I event, the Toray Pan Pacific Open. On the run to the title, she defeated Katarina Srebotnik, Nicole Vaidisova, and Anastasia Myskina, all in three sets. She then defeated the resurgent Hingis, with Hingis saying after the match, "If she played like that all the time, she'd win Grand Slams." At the Pacific Life Open, despite double faulting 79 times in six matches, Dementieva reached the final. She defeated rising stars Sania Mirza, Ana Ivanovic, and Na Li along the way. Dementieva then upset Henin Hardenne in a semifinal 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. The victory was her fourth three set match of the tournament, and fatigue contributed to her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Maria Sharapova in the final. Dementieva was Russia's top player for the 2006 Fed Cup World Group I playoff against Croatia, winning both her single matches in straight sets. In August 2006, Dementieva won the JP Morgan Chase Open in Los Angeles by defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final. At the 2006 U.S. Open, Dementieva reached the quarterfinals for the fourth time, losing to Jankovic. At her home tournament in Moscow, Dementieva reached her seventh semifinal of 2006, losing to Anna Chakvetadze. Dementieva qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships for the seventh straight time, the only active player to do so. She lost to all three players in her round robin group: Sharapova 6-1, 6-4; Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-3; and Clijsters 6-4, 6-0. Her career win-loss record at this tournament fell to 3-14. Dementieva started 2007 by playing an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong, the Watson Waters Challenge, where she defeated Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals and lost to Sharapova in the semifinals. Her first official tournament was in Sydney, Australia, where she defeated Ai Sugiyama in the first round. She lost in the second round to Li Na. At the 2007 Australian Open, Dementieva matched her career best result at this tournament by reaching the fourth round, defeating Stephanie Foretz, Martina Muller, and Maria Elena Camerin, where she lost to Vaidisova 6-3, 6-3. | |||||||||||||
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