2009 SUMMARY
Titles Won: Auckland, Sydney, Toronto
Best Grand Slam Result: SF: Australian Open, Wimbledon
Win/Loss Record: 54-16
Record Against Top 10: 4-4
SEC History: Making ninth appearance; best result SF in 2008
Dementieva's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour bio
Elena Dementieva's dreams came true when she won gold at the Beijing Olympics last year, and having secured a season-finish best ranking of No.5 she was quick out of the blocks in 2009, winning her 12th and 13th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles at Auckland and Sydney. This would prove to be the bedrock for another fine year, resulting in her ninth qualification for the season-ending Championships. No other active player boasts such a record: Venus Williams has also qualified nine times, but participated on just three occasions.
A point or two here and there, and Dementieva's season could have been even better. Her Wimbledon semifinal against Serena Williams was, arguably, the match of the year. It had everything: high-quality play, momentum swings, drama. Dementieva held match point at 5-4 in the third set, only to succumb 67(4) 75 86 in almost three hours; had she won, she'd have advanced to her first Grand Slam final since 2004.
Dementieva and Serena, in fact, met four times during 2009, for two wins apiece - Serena also prevailed in the semis of the Australian Open, ending the 15-match winning streak that heralded the start of the Russian's year. Indeed, Dementieva only played four other matches against Top 10 players, for a win-loss record of 4-4 heading to Doha. Across the season she is 54-16, figures only surpassed by Caroline Wozniacki (65-22) and Dinara Safina (55-15).
Photo Gallery: Dementieva's 2009 season
The first half of the year also brought a runner-up finish to Amélie Mauresmo at the Paris Indoors, and semifinal efforts at Charleston - by which time Dementieva had risen to a new career-high ranking of No.3 - and Stuttgart, where she fell to Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. The major disappointment was at Roland Garros, where she was upset in the third round by No.30 seed Samantha Stosur.
By her high standards Dementieva also underperformed at the US Open - all the more disappointing as she'd arrived in New York as winner of the Olympus US Open Series. That accolade involved beating Serena in the semis and Maria Sharapova in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and reaching the semis at Stanford and Cincinnati.
It remains to be seen whether that second round US Open loss to American teen Melanie Oudin signaled a generational changing of the guard. Since then, Dementieva has also been beaten by Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round at Tokyo and Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarters at Beijing.
What can be said is that Dementieva is a player who has genuinely improved with age. Backing up her powerful groundstrokes, her serve is no longer the liability it was, and sheer hard work means she is fitter than ever. There are a couple of fresh faces at Doha this year - including Wozniacki, who has beaten her twice this season. It will be interesting to see how they fare against this classy campaigner, who'll be intent on bettering last year's semifinal run.
Off-Court: Elena's Olympic Dream Highlights: Sydney: Dementieva vs. Safina
