Dementieva, Garrigues clinch titles

Saturday was the final day of the Istanbul Cup and the Strasbourg Open. Elena Dementieva (left) won the title in Turkey, while Anabel Medina Garrigues (right) cruised to victory in France.

dementieva-istanbul-win.jpg Elena, the 13th-ranked player in the world, won the event when France's Aravane Rezai withdrew because of the knee injury she sustained in her semifinal match against Maria Sharapova. Dementieva lead 7-6 (7-5) 3-0 when Rezai retired. This is the Russian's first singles title in 2007, and she hopes that she will continue to play well next week at Roland Garros where she's seeded 13th.
garrigues.jpg

At the Strasbourg International, the top seed Amelie Mauresmo was upset by the sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 4-6 6-4. This is Garrigues' seveth career title, and the first tournament win of the year. World No. 5 Mauresmo had been looking for a confidence boost ahead of Roland Garros, her home Grand Slam at which she has been unsuccessful so far — she has never made it past the last eight.

Dementieva beat Meilen Tu in Poland

Seventh seed Elena Dementieva needed 159 minutes to overwhelm unseeded Meilen Tu of America 6-7 (5), 6-0, 7-5.

This was Russian's first match since February 15th, and the first one she has won since February 2nd. World No. 13 was sidelined by injury for two and a half months; she broke three of her ribs while training with her new coach. When she complained about the pain she felt, the coach kept telling her that it was a normal part of the exercise. In the end, he lost his job, and Dementieva lost two months of practice. However, it could have been even worse — "I kept wondering if I should come back to competitive tennis," she said.

Weather conditions, severe wind and light snow, made Dementieva's comeback match even more difficult; "When it's this cold, I can feel my broken ribs. It's so nice to sit in a warm room," she said in a press conference.

Demetieva is happy to have won this match, but still, she feels that her tennis was rather poor. (via: J&S Cup)

Dementieva back after a long break

Elena Dementieva, ranked 13th, plays at J&S Cup in Warsaw, which starts on Monday, after an injury has put her off court from an early February. She injured her rib while playing in Antwerp, and hasn't played since.

If the second-seeded Dementieva manages to defeat Meilen Tu of America in the first round of this $600,000 tournament, she is likely to face Venus Williams in the second round; if she reaches the quarterfinals, there is a possibility of meeting fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Dementieva had struggled this season even before her injury. She was defeated in the Sydney second round by China's Na Li. She was eliminated from the Australian Open in the fourth round by Nicole Vaidisova, and then, in Tokyo, she fell to Martina Hingis in the semis. In Antwerp, she retired in her opening match, against Russian Elena Likhovtseva .

However, in Warsaw Dementieva is lucky to have avoided the top part of the draw which includes top-seeded and 2005 champion, Justine Henin, fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, as well as Anna Chakvetadze, seeded sixth. (source: IOL)

Four changes in the top ten

Svetlana Kuznetsova's poor play in Miami cost her to go down two spots in WTA Tour Singles Rankings (from 3rd to 5th). Two players own her a favor for their higher ranking – Amelie Mauresmo returns to the top three, while Kim Clijsters jumps to the 4th place. Russia still has a representative in the 10th place, but this time a different one – Anna Chakvetadze replaced Elena Dementieva. There's one person who seems to have an enormous determination to return to the prestigious top ten and that is Serena Williams. This week she has jumped from number 18 to number 11.


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