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Elena Dementieva reached the semifinals of the US Open
The ninth day of the US Open tennis championship presented a lot of interesting things to Russian fans. Olympic champion Elena Dementieva reached the semi-finals, beating Patti Schnyder from Switzerland - 6:2, 6:3, and Nikolai Davydenko and Igor Andreev completed their performances on the courts of New York.Few doubted Dementieva’s victory over the experienced Swiss tennis player. After a brilliant performance in Beijing, the Russian is not slowing down at the current tournament. So far, all her matches at the US Open are limited to two sets, which makes it possible to save energy and better recover after the games. The duel with Schnyder also followed the usual New York scenario, in which Dementieva took the initiative from the very first minutes. The Russian actually imposed her style of play on her opponent, did not allow her to slow down the pace, and the Swiss was unable to withstand the high speeds proposed by Dementieva.
In the first set, the Russian looked so confident that she practically made no mistakes. This was reflected in the score of the game, which ended 6:2. In the second, Schnyder tried to snap back and won back the break, but Dementieva’s advantage was so obvious that the match again turned out to be fleeting - 6:2, 6:3.
“I expected the match to be tough,” Dementieva said, “and I’m very pleased with my performance. There was a difficult moment in the second set when I lost my serve, and it was important to make a break right away. I think the semi-final with Jankovic will be more difficult, and I will have to demonstrate a better game to reach the final.”
Looking ahead, it is worth noting that if she wins the US Open, Dementieva can realistically claim first place in the women's rankings. True, there are still plenty of candidates for this title. If we talk about the next rival of the Russian, Jelena Jankovic from Serbia, then after her victory over Sibylle Bammer from Austria, she has already surpassed her compatriot Ana Ivanovic in the rating, who dropped out of the fight last week. By the way, unlike Dementieva, her Serbian namesake spent much more effort at this tournament, since she did not finish in two sets in all her matches. And at the beginning of the tournament, Yankovic did not hide the fact that she was just getting into optimal shape after a forced break due to injury. In one of the opening games, Yankovic even fell on the court and could not get up for a long time, because, by her own admission, she did not have the strength. According to her, this was the first time something like this had happened to her. It is clear that the end of the season and injuries are making themselves felt.
If in the women's draw of the US Open two Russians continue to fight - Dementieva and Safina, then the men have no more of our compatriots left. Nikolai Davydenko and Igor Andreev were forced to cover their rackets. The outcome of the confrontation between Andreev and the second racket of the world, Roger Federer, was largely predictable: the Swiss prevailed - 6:7 (5:7), 7:6 (7:5), 6:3, 3:6, 6:3. Nevertheless, after the match he praised the Russian’s performance very highly, saying that he expected it to be a difficult match, that Igor hit the ball well and hit it well, that he was generally an excellent player and deservedly won two sets.
Indeed, in this match Andreev had a slight psychological advantage, expressed in the fact that he simply had nothing to lose. Federer still had a huge burden of responsibility on his shoulders, because every defeat of the now second racket of the world is perceived as a sensation. Most likely, this explained the somewhat nervous play of the Swiss. In the first game, Andreev made a break, and then, despite the fact that Federer equalized the game in five games, the Russian still won the first game in a tiebreak.
The second also ended in a tie-break, but this time Federer was stronger. In the third set the Swiss strengthened his position, but in the fourth the Russian restored the status quo. However, Andreev was not enough for the fifth set, and yet he may well take this difficult match to his advantage.
At the press conference, the Russian did not hide the fact that he was pleased with his game, said that it was an excellent match, and if he survived five sets with Federer, it means he showed good tennis, that this would be an invaluable experience that will be useful in the future, and that the plan , which was available for the game, was generally fulfilled.
“At the beginning of the second set I was unable to convert several break points. If I had been able to take my opponent's serve then, my chances of winning would have increased significantly. In several games in a row, I had situations where I had chances to make a break and was unable to take advantage of them. But in the match against Federer, the missed break points became the main point of the meeting,” Igor Andreev commented on his game at a press conference.
Unlike his compatriot, Nikolai Davydenko did not radiate optimism after his defeat by Gilles Muller from Luxembourg. The fifth racket of the world was supposed to beat the tennis player standing in the 133rd position of the ranking, but the athlete from Luxembourg once again became the author of a sensation. Three years ago he already played in this role, when he beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon and Andy Roddick at the US Open. At the current US Open, Muller also made it clear that he should be considered a serious and dangerous opponent. Before meeting with Davydenko, he had already dealt with Tommy Haas from Germany and Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. So in the match with Davydenko, the tournament qualifier survived the hardest match - 6:4, 4:6, 6:3, 7:6 (12:10). In fact, the Russian was able to show his real strength only in the second game, when he won five games in a row. In the tiebreaker in the fourth set with the score 10:10, Davydenko faltered and lost the match. After the game, he admitted that they missed a lot of chances, especially in the fourth game, and that the opponent played a very good match. “I wanted to win the same way as in previous meetings, but I didn’t succeed,” summed up the Russian. The representative of Luxembourg became the first tennis player from this country to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open.