Elena Dementieva a gold medalist in 2008 and currently ranked No. 5 in the world, Elena Dementieva is perfectly poised for a breakout year.
If she can step up and knock Serena off her throne, I suspect that we’ll be hearing plenty more from this Russian beauty.
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva (Russian: Елена Вячеславовна Дементьева, born 15 October 1981) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has won two Olympic medals in singles, including the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She has also reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Her career high ranking was World No. 3 which she achieved on April 6, 2009. As of 2 August 2010, her ranking is World No. 6, making her the current Russian No.1.
- Elena Dementieva
Early and personal life: Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a teacher, both recreational tennis players. She was rejected by Dynamo Sports Club and the Central Red Army Tennis Club at the age of 7, before enrolling at Spartak Tennis Club, where she was coached for 3 years by Rauza Islanova, the mother of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. She then moved to the Central Red Army Club with Sergei Pashkov, when she was 11. She is now coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod. She has homes in Monaco, Moscow and Boca Raton, Florida, and enjoys snowboarding, baseball, reading and traveling
Elena Dementieva, All Access Hour, Stanford 2010 Video
Country: Russia
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth: October 15, 1981
Place of birth: Moscow, then Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height: 1.80 m
Turned pro: 25 August 1998
Plays: Right; Two-handed backhand
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- Elena Dementieva
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- Elena Dementieva
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- Elena Dementieva
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- Elena Dementieva
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- Elena Dementieva
Tennis career: Early career - Dementieva played and won her first international tournament, Les Petits 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.
1999–2002: 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 deficit. She played her first Grand Slam main draws, qualifying for the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon and receiving a direct entry into the US 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 US 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. $600,000. She became the first woman from Russia to reach the US 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.
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. Dementieva, however, suffered a shoulder injury in Australia. To keep playing matches, she altered her serve, adding slice and changing her motion. After her shoulder healed, her service motion stayed the same. She has double faulted as many as 19 times in a match and hit 50 mph first and second serves. In 2002, Dementieva and her partner Janette Husárová of Slovakia reached the final of the US 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 Dokić.
2003: Dementieva played the most tournaments among year-end top ten players (27) and won US$869,740 in prize money. At the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, she won her first WTA Tour title, defeating Amanda Coetzer, World No. 9 Daniela Hantuchová, World No. 4 Justine Henin, and World No. 5 Lindsay Davenport. Dementieva was the lowest seed (tenth) to win the tournament in its 24-year history. She also won back-to-back titles in Bali and Shanghai, defeating Chanda Rubin in both finals. Dementieva finished the year in the top 10 for the first time (World No. 8). In addition, she reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon doubles with compatriot Lina Krasnoroutskaya, beating the Venus and Serena Williams team along the way.
2004: 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 5 April, 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 Women’s Tennis Association top 10 simultaneously.
In May at the French Open, Dementieva reached her first Grand Slam final, defeating former top ranked Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round, Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, and Paola Suárez in the semifinals, all in straight sets. Dementieva lost to compatriot Myskina in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final, 6–1, 6–2. Previous female Russian Grand Slam finalists had been: Dementieva’s coach at the time, Olga Morozova, at 1974′s French Open and Wimbledon, followed by Natalia Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.
Later that year at the US Open, after first round losses at Wimbledon to Sandra Kleinová and the 2004 Summer Olympics to eventual bronze-medalist Alicia Molik, Dementieva reached her second Grand Slam final, defeating Mauresmo and Jennifer Capriati en route, both in third set tie-breaks. Countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dementieva in straight sets in the final, becoming the third consecutive Russian Grand Slam winner. Following the US Open, Dementieva won her first title in Hasselt and reached the Moscow finals for the second time, losing to Myskina.
2010: Dementieva began the year, representing Russia in the Hopman Cup partnering Igor Andreev. She lost her opening match in the Round Robin stage to Sabine Lisicki before defeating Yaroslava Shvedova and Laura Robson. However, Russia failed to make the final as they finished third in group B.
Dementieva’s first tournament and tour title of the year came at the Medibank International, where she was also the defending champion. She defeated world no. 1 Serena Williams 6–3 6–2 in the final, successfully defending her title. En route to the final she defeated fellow Russian and world no. 2 Dinara Safina as well as the world no. 6 Victoria Azarenka, in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, winning in straight sets on both occasions. She is the first woman since Martina Hingis in 2001 and 2002 to win the Medibank International in consecutive years.
Dementieva was seeded fifth at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year. She defeated Vera Dushevina of Russia in the 1st round. In the second round she lost to wild card, former World No. 1, and eventual finalist Justine Henin of Belgium, 5–7, 6–7 (6), despite having 2 set points in the first set, and one set point at 6–5 in the second set tie-break.
Her next tournament was the Open GDF Suez in Paris where she advanced to the final for the second consecutive year. In her second final of the year, she came from a set down to defeat Lucie Šafářová 6–7(5), 6–1, 6–4.
Dementieva was then the fifth seeded at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. She retired against Daniela Hantuchová in the second round because of shoulder injury while trailing 6–4, 1–1.
Dementieva then play at the inaugural Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Seeded first, she advanced to her third final of the year where she fell in straight sets to Alisa Kleybanova, 6–3, 6–2.
Dementieva then took part in the Premier Mandatory events in North America. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Dementieva lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals, 6–4, 6–3. The following week at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, she lost in the second Round to Justine Henin, 6–3, 6–2.
Dementieva represented Russia in the semifinal round of the 2010 Fed Cup against the United States. She defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin in her two singes matches. In the deciding doubles match, Dementieva and Alla Kudryavtseva fell to Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber 6–3, 6–1.
At the Internazionali BNL d’Italia where she was the sixth seeded, she lost in the third round to a resurgent Ana Ivanović for the first time 6–1, 7–6(5). She then played at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, where she defeated Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round, 6–0, 6–1. She lost to Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania in the second round 6–1, 3–6, 7–5 even after serving for the match. Despite loss, Dementieva manage to be the Russian No.1 for the first time in her career.
Dementieva next tournament is Warsaw Open. As a second seeded and receiving bye in the first round, she then lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in a nearly 3-hour match, 5–7, 6–4, 4–6.
Dementieva was the 5th seed at the French Open. She defeated Petra Martić of Croatia in the first round 6–1, 6–1 and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round 6–2, 7–6. Despite clear injuries, she managed to come from a set down and breaks down in the second and third sets to defeat Aleksandra Wozniak in the third round and ran past Chanelle Scheepers in the fourth round. She booked her place in the semi-finals of the tournament, where she faced Italian 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, after comeback from a set down to win over compatriot Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. She retired after Schiavone won the first set in a tie break with a torn left calf muscle which was sustained in the second round, and subsequently withdrew from Eastbourne and Wimbledon.
Her next schedule tournament is Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, California, where she is the second seeded. After receiving bye in the first round, she will play Kimiko Date Krumm the veteran from Japan who beat Dinara Safina in the previous round. Despite a slow start, she prevailed the Japanese 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Grand Slam results / Australian Open: SF (2009)
French Open: F (2004)
Wimbledon: SF (2008, 2009)
US Open: F (2004)
Major tournaments / Championships: SF (2000, 2008)
Olympic Games / Gold medal (2008) – Silver medal (2000)
Doubles – Career record: 152–85
Career titles: 6 WTA, 3 ITF titles
Highest ranking: No. 5 (14 April 2003)
Grand Slam Doubles results – Australian Open: 3R (2005, 2006, 2007)
French Open: 3R (2004)
Wimbledon: SF (2003)
US Open: F (2002, 2005)
WTA Championships: W (2002)
Olympic Games: 1R (2004)