October 7, 2005

Dementieva Defeats Clijsters In Filderstadt

Maintaining competitive composure throughout today's quarterfinal clash with Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva finally snapped on serve today. The fifth-seeded Russian snapped a seven-match losing streak to Clijsters in style, cracking an ace to reach triple match point and serving out the match at love to score a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 triumph and advance to the semifinals of the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt. It was Dementieva's first victory over Clijsters in five years. The 23-year-old Russian conquered Clijsters for the first time since scoring a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory in their first professional meeting in the 2000 Chase Championships quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden in New York. Reigning U.S. Open champion Clijsters entered this encounter with a 23-match winning streak and had claimed four consecutive championships: Los Angeles, Toronto, the U.S. Open and Luxembourg. The sometime sporadic Dementieva serve was the key stroke in the final set a she held serve for 3-1. Pounding away with relentless aggression from behind the baseline, Dementieva pushed Clijsters in pursuit and scored her second service break to extend her lead to 4-1. Serving for the match at 5-2, Dementieva delivered an ace then closed out the victory at love to advance to her second Filderstadt semifinal in the last four years. The eighth-ranked Russian will take on either sixth-seeded compatriot Nadia Petrova or third-seeded French woman Amelie Mauresmo for a spot in the final. Clijsters, who leads the WTA Tour with eight tournament titles, has won 62 of the 69 matches she's played this season.

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