Dementieva heads to Berlin
8th May 2006
Next stop on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the Qatar Telecom German Open from Berlin, Germany. Elena Dementieva is seeded fifth, therefore, receives a first-round bye.
After coming up short versus Clijsters in Warsaw, the Russian is once again looking to win a second title for the season after having claimed the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open earlier in the year.
Heading to Berlin, Dementieva is one spot higher in the rankings compared to last week, since she traded places with Patty Schnyder from ninth to eighth. Berlin has one of the best draws in recent years, drawing the likes of Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Patty Schnyder and Martina Hingis, among others.
After a first-round bye, Dementieva will meet the winner of the clash between Polish Marta Domachowska and Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko, who comes from the qualifying draw. Should she advance, she is highly likely to get either Martina Hingis, a player she beat in Tokyo’s final, who leads the head-to-head series by 3-2 since claming the last three matches, or Flavia Pennetta, Elena’s doubles partner, with whom she won the first round of doubles on Monday over Sromova/K. Bondarenko.
If the Russian blonde gets to the quarterfinals, she will most certainly meet world number one Amelie Mauresmo, a player she trails 4-8 in head-to-head, including losing the last three meetings, all last year between Filderstadt and the Porsche Championships, including the final of Philadelphia where Mauresmo won 7:5, 6:2 and 7:5.
Looking even more ahead, Justine Henin-Hardenne looms as a potential semifinal opponent. These players are tied for the year with Elena sailing away with a win at Indian Wells after trailing 6:2 and 5:2. However, the Belgian claimed their last meeting in Fed Cup by 6:2 and 6:0.
For the final, the most dangerous player seems to be in-form Nadia Petrova, Elena’s countrywoman, who holds a perfect 10-0 W/L record on clay after claming the American clay season that includes Amelia Island and Charleston.
The Qatar Telecom Open is in its 27th edition as a Tour event. This year, the centre court was named after German tennis legend Steffi Graf.
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