"Elena Dementieva"
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 was later coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod. She has homes in Monaco, Moscow and Boca Raton, Florida. Dementieva enjoys snowboarding, reading, baseball and traveling. On 16 July 2011, Dementieva married hockey player Maxim Afinogenov in Moscow.
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.
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, along with 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 had 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.
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.
Dementieva began her season by winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. Seeded first, she reached the final where she defeated unseeded Elena Vesnina in the final in straight sets. The following week at the Medibank International in Sydney, Dementieva defeated Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals and upset top-seeded Serena Williams in the semifinals 6–3, 6–1. She then won her second consecutive tournament by defeating compatriot and second-seeded Dinara Safina in the final.
Dementieva was seeded fourth at the Australian Open and was one of three players who had a chance of being ranked World No. 1 at the end of this tournament. Dementieva's 15-match winning streak ended in the semifinals when she lost to Serena Williams 6–3, 6–4 after Dementieva had led 3–0 in the second set.
Playing for Russia in Fed Cup in Moscow, Dementieva defeated Zhang Shuai 6–3, 6–0, helping Russia to an emphatic 5–0 win over the Chinese.
At the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris, Dementieva advanced to her third final of the year. Amélie Mauresmo then defeated Dementieva in the final in three sets. At the Premier 5 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Dementieva became the 27th woman during the open era to record 500 career singles victories after defeating Sybille Bammer in the first round. She lost however to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–3.
Dementieva's next tournament was the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, which was the first Premier Mandatory event of the year. After receiving a bye in the first round, she was upset by the Czech Republic's Petra Cetkovská 7–6(2), 2–6, 6–1. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another Premier Mandatory event, Dementieva was seeded fourth but committed 45 unforced errors while losing to 13th seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round 7–5, 6–4. Despite the loss, she achieved her highest career singles ranking of World No. 3. By reaching the Top 3, she became the sixth Russian to do so.
Dementieva began the spring clay court season at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, a Premier event on the tour. She lost there in the semifinals Wozniacki 6–4, 5–7, 7–5 in a nearly three hour match. Dementieva survived a 2–5 deficit in the second set and saved three consecutive match points on her own serve at 3–5 in that set. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, another Premier event, she reached her second consecutive semifinal where she lost to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 6–2. Dementieva was seeded 3rd for the 2009 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open but was upset by former world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the third round by 1–6, 6–4, 6–2. At the French Open, Dementieva lost to Samantha Stosur in the third round, 6–3, 4–6, 6–1.
As preparation for Wimbledon, Dementieva took part at the AEGON International in Eastbourne. Seeded first, she was upset in the second round by the eventual finalist Virginie Razzano 6–0, 3–6, 7–6(4). Seeded 4th at Wimbledon, Dementieva easily reached the semi-final dropping only 20 games en route. In her second consecutive Wimbledon semi-final, Dementieva played out a thriller against the No. 2 seed and eventual champion Serena Williams. In a high quality contest, Dementieva held a single match point at 5–4 in the third set but eventually lost the match 6–7(4), 7–5, 8–6 in the longest Wimbledon semifinal of the open era. The match was widely heralded as the best women's match of 2009.
In the lead up to the U.S. Open, Dementieva took part in three tournaments. At the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, she advanced to the semi-final defeating Daniela Hantuchová en route. In the semis, Dementieva was crushed by Venus Williams 6–0, 6–1. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, she defeated Yanina Wickmayer and Caroline Wozniacki to reach the semifinal. In a bizarre match, Dementieva the fell to Jelena Janković, 6–7(2), 6–0, 6–7(6), despite leading 6–2 in the final set tiebreak having already saved three match points herself prior. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Dementieva defeated Serena Williams 7–6(2), 6–1 to reach her fourth final of the year. In the final, she defeated an unseeded Maria Sharapova 6–4, 6–3 in the final to win her third title of the year and 14th of her career. As a result of her performances in these three tournaments, Dementieva secured the US Open Series crown. Entering the US Open as one of the favourites, Dementieva suffered a shock loss to the World No. 70 Melanie Oudin, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3.
In 2009 after the US Open, Elena was awarded the Order of Honour by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in Moscow. The Order of Honor is awarded to Russian citizens for high achievements in government, economic production, scientific research, sociocultural, public and charitable activities which essentially made it possible to improve conditions of life in the country, for merits in training highly skilled personnel, training the growing up generation, and the maintenance of legality and law. The Order of Honor is worn on the left side of the chest; when other orders of the Russian Federation are present, it is located after orders awarded for military merits.
At the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, Dementieva won her first round robin match in the Maroon group against Venus after trailing 3–6, 1–3 in the second set by 3–6, 7–6(6), 6–2. She then suffered two consecutive losses, to Serena in her second round robin match by 2–6, 4–6, then to Svetlana Kuznetsova, by 3–6, 2–6. Because of this, she failed to reach to the semi-finals.
Dementieva finished 2009 as the world number 5, one spot lower from 2008 year end ranking. The highlights of her career this year included winning Auckland, Sydney and Toronto and reaching the semis at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
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.
Dementieva's 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 seed 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 played 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 Dementieva was the sixth seed, 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 the loss, Dementieva managed to be the Russian No.1 for the first time in her career.
Dementieva's next tournament was the Warsaw Open. As a second seed and receiving a bye in the first round, she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in a nearly 3-hour match, 5–7, 6–4, 4–6.
Dementieva was the fifth 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.
Dementieva was the 12th seed at the US Open. She defeated Olga Govortsova, Sybille Bammer, and 24th seed Daniela Hantuchová to advance to the 4th round where she wasted four match points before falling to 5th seed Samantha Stosur.
As the 7th seed, Dementieva reached the finals of the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open where she faced top seed Caroline Wozniacki. Dementieva defeated Yaroslava Shvedova, Flavia Pennetta, 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva, and 5th seed Francesca Schiavone but eventually lost to top seed Wozniacki. At the China Open, she suffered a 7–6(2), 7–6(4) loss to Serbian Ana Ivanović in the third round.
On 9 October 2010, it was announced that Dementieva had qualified for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships for the tenth time in her career.
Dementieva's final event of the year was the WTA Tour Championships, where she qualified for the third consecutive year, as the No. 7 seed. Dementieva was still struggling with her ankle injury. As a member of the Maroon Group, Dementieva fell to Caroline Wozniacki 6–1, 6–1, defeated Samantha Stosur 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(4). Dementieva then faced Francesca Schiavone, and lost 6–4, 6–2.
Following her loss to Schiavone, Dementieva announced her retirement in an on-court ceremony on 29 October 2010. Dementieva ended her career ranked World No. 9, with 16 WTA singles titles and 2 Grand Slam final appearances. Dementieva said in her speech that it had been an honour to be part of the tour. Zvonareva called her an inspiration. Dementieva revealed during an interview with Eurosport that she had decided that 2010 would be her last season at the start of the year.
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