Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva reached the final of the Medibank International Sydney. The American did it the more complicated way, while the Russian cruised past her semifinal opponent.

The top-seeded Williams had lost the first set against France's Aravane Rezai and trailed 5-2 in the second set before her vast experience once again took charge and she recovered to win 3-6 7-5 6-4.

Contrary to Williams, defending champion and fifth seed Dementieva wasn’t threatened in her semifinal match, and defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-1.

Williams has a 7-4 career record against Dementieva. They played as much as six times last year and both of them won three matches. (Photo by Dima Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Elena Dementieva, Maria Kirilenko, Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie took part in an annual exhibition tournament the Glam Slam – Showdown of Champions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our friend HCFoo attended the meet-the-fans session held on Friday and followed the rest of the event at home.

Dementieva and Kirilenko defeated Mirza and Zheng 3-0. The Russians won in doubles on Saturday 6-4 5-7 10-8. Then on Sunday, Kirilenko beat Zheng 6-3 4-6 6-4, and Dementieva completed Russian domination by downing Mirza 6-4 7-6 (7-0).

HCFoo's overall impression is that the Glam Slam – Showdown of Champions wasn't actually glamorous and that the organization should have been much better. In addition, the attendance was bad and there was lack of publicity. Still, the matches were worth watching, as the players took them seriously and fought hard.

Elena Dementieva left a lovely impression on HCFoo:

I've never met a player so friendly… she would look deep in your eyes, greet you and give you a big smile! *faint*

We’re continuing to fulfill readers’ wishes, and as Marine kindly asked, we have compiled an overview of Elena Dementieva's 2009 tennis outfits.

I have to say I’m not a fan of the Yonex-clad Dementieva’s on-court style. She could definitely look much better.

Although the outfits are not ugly, they all look too much alike. For example, compare the dress the Russian wore in Stanford, Cincinnati, Toronto and New York, with the one she sported in Tokyo and Beijing. There hardly is any difference.

In addition, Dementieva wears the same outfit at too many tournaments. The red dress she opened the season with in the beginning of January was present up until Charleston in mid April. She wore it at eight tournaments.

What do you think of Dementieva and her Yonex outfits? Do you like how her 2009 season looked fashion-wise?

Check out all the other retrospections of player outfits we have had so far. (photos: Women Who Serve, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Fed Cup, DJ Stotty, Evian Insiders, Apricot Cafe, Tennis Served Fresh, Ralf Reinecke)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour interviewed Vera Zvonareva, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova about their favorite place for a holiday.

Poor Samantha Stosur, she had to go to Bali instead of Hawaii.

The first match of the Sony Ericsson Championships was between Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Jankovic. The Belorussian debutant at the Championships triumphed in straight sets 6-2 6-3, making 15 unforced errors compared to Jankovic’s 33.

The second match of the day featured defending champion Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva. Williams entered the encounter with an impressive 9-2 record against Dementieva, including six straight wins over the Russian. The American built a 6-2 3-1 lead in the match at the season-ending Championships, and looked to be extending her streak, when Dementieva fought back to eventually take a 3-6 7-6(6) 6-2 victory.

The first day of the round robin stage at the Sony Ericsson Championships was closed with Serena Williams’ tight win over Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6(6) 7-5. Williams came back from behind multiple times to have her revenge for the quarterfinal loss to Kuznetsova at the 2009 French Open. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)