Dementieva sets up Tokyo final against Wozniacki
Elena Dementieva has set up a final showdown against Caroline Wozniacki at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The Russian defeated French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in 6-4, 7-5 in their semi-final match, their first match against one another since the semi-finals at Roland Garros, when a leg injury forced Dementieva to retire after losing the first set to the Italian.
After taking the first set against the world No. 8, Dementieva looked set to cruise to the second after securing the early break before the tenacious Schiavone broke back to ensure the seventh seed would be made to work for her victory.
Dementieva though pulled away again, breaking Schiavone for the fifth time in the match and holding two match points against the 30-year-old’s serve in the ninth game of the set, but failing to convert either of them.
Having stared defeat in the eye in the previous game and won, Schiavone then thwarted Dementieva’s attempts to serve out the match, breaking again to level the scores at 5-5 in the second set, before the world No. 10 broke again to set up a second opportunity to serve out the match, and despite double-faulting on her third match point of the day, making no mistake this time around.
Earlier, Wozniacki took three sets to defeat Victoria Azarenka in their semi-final match, with the world No. 2 eventually securing the 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 win after two hours and 51 minutes on court.
In a match that saw a total of 17 breaks of serve, Wozniacki looked to have the third set in the bag after racing to a 5-0 lead over the Belarusian before Azarenka hit back with four straight games of her own.
Wozniacki’s semi-final wins sees the Dane reach the decider for the fourth time in her last six tournaments, and she should head into the match full of confidence knowing that each of the past three times she’s reached the final she’s secured the title.
Defeating Dementieva though will be no easy task for Wozniacki, who will enter the match with 3-3 head-to-head record against the 28-year-old, although it’s the latter who won their most recent encounter, a three-set battle in the semi-finals in New Haven (where Wozniacki went on to win the title).
That match though was decided in a third-set tiebreak, and was the third straight match that Dementieva had been forced to go the distance, having taken just over three hours to win through to quarter-finals in her second round match against Kateryna Bondarenko and about the same time to defeat Marion Bartoli to reach the final four. She should have fresher legs this time around, and has the weapons to break through Wozniacki’s near impenetrable defences.
The 20-year-old, however, has more to play for than her fifth title of the year, and should she win the Tokyo title, Wozniacki will need only to reach the quarter-finals of next week’s China Open to snatch the world No. 1 ranking from the injured Serena Williams, who has not played a tournament since winning Wimbledon in July.
Wozniacki certainly won’t be short of incentives to win here, but might just find herself falling short against Dementieva in the final.
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