Dementieva vs Petrova in French Open quarter-final
In 2009, the Russians capitalised on their dominance in the top-20 women’s rankings when two of their contingent contested the title in the final of the French Open.
With defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out in the third round this year, and runner-up Dinara Safina crashing out to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in the opening round, it’s been a much tougher year for the Russians at Roland Garros in 2010.
The quarter-final between Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova will now see the remaining two Russians in the draw face off for a place in the semi-finals.
Petrova, who has twice been a semi-finalist in Paris but not since 2005, comes into this match fresh from defeating second seed Venus Williams in the fourth round, one match after defeating Madrid Open titlist Aravane Rezai.
“I was mentally focused and I get my nerves calm,” Petrova said after the match against Williams. “Besides that, you know, I played consistent, solid tennis. I came up with the good shots when it was necessary. That's it. I don't think I've done anything spectacular today.”
“I have no expectations [of how far into the tournament I can progress]. I'm not really setting my goals up high, you know. I have the next opponent, Dementieva. She's tough opponent for me...I'm just looking forward, you know, to do my best and come out from that particular match as a winner.”
The world No. 20 entered the tournament in perhaps the best form of all the Russians on clay, having reached the quarter-finals at Charleston, the Italian Open in Rome and Madrid. So far at least, her results in comparison to her compatriots have reflected those respectable finishes in the lead-up to the French Open.
For Dementieva, reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros is a reversal of fortunes after early exits in Rome, Madrid and then Warsaw. And without trying to take anything away from the 28-year-old’s achievements in reaching the final eight in Paris, she’s not had the toughest run through the draw so far.
Where Petrova has prevailed over the in-form Rezai and Williams in her last two matches, Dementieva had world No. 131 Chanelle Scheepers to deal with in her fourth round match. Before that unseeded Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak pushed her to three sets.
The world No. 5’s serve, probably the most well-documented weakness in her game, so far hasn’t been holding up as well as it should at the French Open, with seven double faults conceded against Scheepers in difficult conditions and 12 doubles committed in her third round match against Wozniak, where Dementieva won just 52 percent of points on her first serve.
Dementieva and Petrova will enter this match with seven wins each from 14 previous meetings, with Dementieva winning the four most recent of them, though the last was in 2008.
Form suggests, however, that by the end of this match it will be Petrova who takes the 8-7 lead in their head-to-head encounters.
Prediction: Petrova in straight sets.
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