Elena Dementieva life and biography

Elena Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player.

CAREER:

Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 3, which was accomplished on April 6, 2009. She announced her retirement on October 29, 2010, after her final match at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships. Dementieva ended her career ranked World No. 9.

2010:
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 started her hard court campaign at Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, California, where she was the second seeded. She advanced to the quarterfinals where she fell to Maria Sharapova in three sets. She fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round at Cincinnati. She will not repeat as champion at the Rogers Cup after suffering a 7–6(3), 6–4 loss to Chinesewoman Zheng Jie in the third round. She lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals at New Haven despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the third set.

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 suffering a 7–6(2), 7–6(4) loss to Serbian Ana Ivanović in the third round.

On October 9, 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.

Retirement

Following her loss to Schiavone, Dementieva announced her retirement in an on-court ceremony on October 29, 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.

PERSONAL:
Coached by mother, Vera, who travels with her
Supported by Foundation for the Development of Tennis in Russia
Father, Viatcheslav, is an electrical engineer; mother is a teacher; older brother, Vsevolod, is university student
Enjoys skiing
Loves animals, and has a Yorkshire terrier named Patrick
Graduated from Special Language School (French) in 1998; took English lessons in 2000
Most memorable experience was observing Australian animals in the wild
Tennis player most admired is Martina Hingis because she plays like chess on court
Goal is to get as close to the top as possible.

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