Translated material
Doubles
For the second week in a row, the Russians played the final
Russian Elena Dementyeva won the prestigious tennis tournament in Dubai with a prize fund of $1.5 million. In the final, the Muscovite was opposed by her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who lost in this Russian derby - 6:4, 3:6, 2:6.For the second week in a row, the championship title in the highest-rated tournaments is being contested exclusively by Russians. A week earlier, Maria Sharapova won in Doha in a duel with Vera Zvonareva. However, Sharapova refused to travel to Dubai due to a viral infection.
With the exception of Sharapova and the American Venus Williams, who chose home competitions in Memphis over the trip, where she lost in the first round, all the other women's tennis stars took to the court: Belgian Justine Henin, French Amelie Mauresmo, Anna Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic from Serbia, Italian Francesca Schiavone and others. The company of foreign tennis players was also opposed by eight domestic athletes: Ekaterina Makarova, Maria Kirilenko, Dinara Safina, Vera Dushevina, Nadezhda Petrova, Anna Chakvetadze, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementyeva. Naturally, on the way to the final, losses were inevitable: Makarova, Kirilenko, Dushevina and Petrova lost in the first round, Safina failed to advance beyond the second round, and Chakvetadze withdrew in the quarterfinals due to injury, not completing the match with Elena Yankovic. The defeat of Justine Henin was also a surprise. In the quarterfinals, the world number one lost to Italian Francesca Schiavone in two tiebreaks, losing the opportunity to become the champion of this tournament for the fifth time. Previously, in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007, the Belgian won these competitions.
Moving through the tournament bracket, both Russian finalists endured difficult matches. Kuznetsova - with Lucy Safarzhova, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Yankovic. Dementieva beat Alena Bondarenko, Anna Ivanovich and Francesca Schiavone. The semi-final games turned out to be very long, fatigue and tension took their toll. In total, both meetings lasted almost six hours.
The final match between Dementieva and Kuznetsova was of fundamental importance for the former. The last time Elena beat her opponent was in 2005 at Indian Wells. Then Kuznetsova prevailed in three meetings in a row, bringing her winning streak to five against Dementieva’s three. From this point of view, Kuznetsova had a psychological advantage. Moreover, this was her fifth time participating in this tournament. Twice, in 2005 and 2006, she reached the semi-finals, and in 2004 - the final, and invariably lost to the Belgian Justine Henin. Dementieva flew to Dubai for the first time and immediately after the victory.
The finale was nervous and intriguing. After winning the first set, it seemed that Kuznetsova’s experience would help her put the squeeze on her opponent. However, Dementieva was not going to give up. On the contrary, she took advantage of the fact that Kuznetsova had relaxed and played aggressively and at high speeds. “In the first set I played incorrectly, I couldn’t get Sveta to move. Then she started playing all over the court, trying to tire her out. I showed an aggressive game, and this predetermined the outcome of the meeting,” Dementieva admitted after the match.
Even last season, Elena made adjustments to her game. This well-established tactic allowed her to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and now to score the ninth victory in her career and her first this season. Dementieva’s fighting qualities were already in abundance, which she demonstrated more than once both in personal fights and in Fed Cup matches.”
As for Kuznetsova, Svetlana is losing her second final this year. In Sydney she lost to the Belgian Enin, but now Dementieva has become her offender. “I’m very upset because I had all the opportunities and chances to win, but I didn’t use them. Lena played great, but the quality of my tennis was declining,” Svetlana complained after the final match.