That would be the Dementieva vs. Williams match, wouldn’t it? My goodness, that was fun.
Serena and Elena battled it out in a riveting semifinal match today, with Serena eventually coming back from match point down in the third: 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6.
Elena enjoyed the experience, even though she squandered that match point opportunity:
Q. Do you think this is the best match ever you have played on grass?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Yeah, definitely, I think that was the best match on grass court. And that was the best match we ever played against each other. It was a real fight from the beginning till the end. You know, I just feel like, you know, finally I played some good tennis here.
Just, you know, was not easy to fight against her. She’s a great champion. She was, you know, serving very well today. You know, I wasn’t sure if it’s Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side, 125 all the time. You know, it was a huge percentage of the first serve.
You know, even with that I was able to break her a couple of times and I was in the lead in the third set. Like I said, she’s a fighter. Me, too. So was a good match.
Elena Dementieva is my favorite Russian (outside the sunny Siberian, Maria Sharapova.) Even back when her serve was more hustle than flow, she found a way to get to two Grand Slam finals. More than Safina, she’s the Russian that I think “deserves” a Major at this point. Glad to hear she has her eyes on the prize, too:
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think only by playing these kind of matches you can improve, you know, because this is the players that I want to beat, to win a Grand Slam. And, you know, you have this experience playing very close match against Serena, I think it’s very positive.
So I’m gonna watch this match again. I’m gonna take some positive, you know, things from it and go forward.
Let’s go, Elena! I’ll be rooting for you at the US Open. Even though I’m jealous that you can look this good after sweating for three hours.
On Serena’s side of the net, she admitted to being pushed to the limits, saying: “I definitely had to dig deep, because I was playing a player that didn’t give me an inch, didn’t make too many errors, was playing a hundred percent.”
Serena, being the perfectionist/egotist that we all know and love, didn’t rank her own performance as an A++, however. Here are the money quotes from her presser:
Q. You seemed to be coming off your forehand the whole first set. You weren’t hitting through it.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I think that was for the whole match. My forehand didn’t show up today. I think he went to Hawaii. (Laughter).
But I’ve called him and asked her, I should say, to come back for the final. Hopefully she’ll be back.
Q. You did get it back occasionally.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Very occasionally. Maybe once or twice. I didn’t hit my best today.
But, you know, it’s always good to win when one of your stroke’s on vacation.
And now onto The Worst Match of the day, if not the tournament, if not the entire season. Venus Williams destroyed, obliterated, dismantled and humiliated Dinara Safina in the other semifinal: 6-1, 6-0.
Here’s a mind bender for you: The actual No. 1 seed won only one game against the real No. 1 seed.
I hate to take anything away from Venus’s amazing performance, but watching Dinara play is starting to make me sick to my stomach. Or am I being to hard on her, forgetting Roger Federer’s abysmal 1-6, 3-6, 0-6 loss to Nadal in last year’s French Open final? (My answer: once Dinara has 12 slams, she can start getting bageled in finals.)
At least we have a great final coming up! Williams vs. William XXI! I’ll have more on that later. For now, I’m still recovering from that match point Dementieva lost.
Tags: Dementieva, Safina, semifinals, Serena, tennis, Venus, Wimbledon, WTA
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No you are not being too hard on Dementieva. That was just embarassing and I felt bad for her. I didn’t even finish watching the match because I felt like I walked in on something I wasn’t supposed to see. And she keeps melting down in big matches. It’s true that Roger got whipped at the French last year, but he does not go melt down in big matches routinely and he COMPETES. Dinara didn’t even look like she was competing out there … she looked incapable of competing.
And can she get a shirt that covers her stomach, PLEASE?
I meant SAFlNA not Dementieva. Dementieva played a glorious match, unlike her compatriot. Safina was a disgrace.
alista: you mean Safina, right? (I do that kind of thing all the time.)
Like you, I felt as if I were watching something shameful and embarrassing — no knock on Venus, of course! Safina made me nuts;all my maternal instincts kicked in and I just wanted to shake her silly and give her a kiss. She needs help. Bad.
I’ve never had much opportunity to see Dementieva, so color me impressed. (Like Freaky, I’m jealous at how pretty and unruffled she looked after working in the heat for three hours.) Way to go, Elena!
To me husband’s dismay, I’m practicing Serena’s raised fist, over the shoulder snarl. She looks like a lioness. I think all women should practice it — -we might achieve Serena’s self-confidence and killer instinct. “LET’S GO!”, ladies.
Yes, I meant Safina, thanks. I’ll put a note after my comment.
I instantly became a Dementieva fan. Will sure be rooting for her come the USO. Still feeling bad for her.
Nothing against Serena, but I wish Dementieva had won. She deserved it just as much and watching the sisters play each other, knowing how difficult it must be for them is just no fun. But I’m rooting for Venus!
Yes! Go V! I also enjoy seeing how sulky Serena gets when she loses – even to her sister! It’s pretty amazing how competitive she is.
It’s hard to say who’ll win, right? Serena’s looked sharper, but Venus has had a much easier path.
I always wanted to have legs like Elena from the first time I ever saw her play. Shapely and athletic, that’s what I want. Oh well, we can’t all be athletically gifted can we?
Elena has an amazing physique! Great legs, arms everything! And she’s beautiful, too, and obviously talented. She’s won the genetic lottery, for sure!
I agree; in fact every time I see Elena, i think Sharapova is SOOOO overhyped (in terms of beauty I mean).
Heehee I see what alista meant about the legs, but I’ll pass on the Dementieva arms. Too ‘Madonna’ for me.
I for one wasn’t sorry that Dementieva lost, being all pro-Williams, but you gotta feel bad for her. Opportunities like that don’t come for her very easily, and despite all that hard work, she’s back where she started – a perennial semifinalist/sometime finalist. It’s tough getting so close and then missing out – probably even tougher than if she had lost 63 63.
As for Safina, I dunno what to say about her that won’t sound cruel. I agree FF, it makes me sick too. Even though this is her best result at Wimbledon, the WAY she lost was just distressing.
Hats off too Elena! She played great. I like the Williams sisters, but I really wish that she had gotten that match point. She deserved it. All Williams Finals are awkward and tense. I don’t know who to root for. As for Safina, she did make it past the 3rd round on a surface she hates. I think she just needs to work on ‘the big matches’, she’s got the goods to win a slam.