subject: World Top 5: Can Dementieva Continue To Defend Her Title And Reach The World Number 1? [print this page] Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva was born October 15, 1981. She's a Russian tennis player. She has already conquered two Olympic Medals (Singles) including Gold in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. She also reached the Finals of two Grand Slam occasions. Her career's high ranking was World Number 3 which she achieved on April 6, 2009. And as of May 2010, her ranking is World Number 5 thus earning her the existing Russian Top 1.
Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a school teacher. They were both recreational tennis players. Dementieva played and got her first international tournament, Les Petits As, in France at the age of 13. In 1997, she joined the WTA Top 500. She turned professional in 1998 and entered the Top 100 in 1999.
Dementieva is definitely an aggressive player with powerful groundstrokes off both sides and superb defensive skills. Her chosen groundstroke is her forehand which she strikes hard and flat. Particularly, her running forehand which she rarely misses is a key weapon when she's for the defense. Dementieva is also recognized for her excellent athleticism and swiftness inside the court. She creates few net approaches except to go back drop shots or to take advantage of weak returns from her competitors although since Wimbledon 2009, she's been more intense most of the times.
She has no specific favorite surface as her playing prowess allows the lady to adjust easily on each surface although her best results have were known to be on hard courts and she appears less relaxed moving with confidence on clay. While her heavy groundstroking baseline game would not seem to be that suitable for grass. Her athleticism and improved serve, in particular her slice serve have resulted into two consecutive semi-final appearances at Wimbledon.
Dementieva's serve indicates improvement eversince 2008 committing fewer double faults and occasionally managing aces. She is thought to be certainly one of, if not one of the most gifted player to have not yet win a Grandslam within the World of Tennis.
