Elena Dementieva: Still Holding Fort

Justin Henin, Maria Sharapova, and the Williams sisters are some of the names that do the rounds and keep rippling the surface here in B/R. Amongst these popular characters, there still remains one such player whose credit is still a little unaccounted for.

I am talking about Elena Dementieva who can be called a vintage in herself. She has been a top 10 bracket holder for quite a few years now, managing to qualify in almost all year end WTA championships from 2002.

For all her talent and hard work, she has yet not managed to win a slam though she has reached the finals of two slams: RG and US Open in 2004 and Semi-Finals of the other two slams in 2008 and 2009.

And, if slams have eluded her, then the Olympics have definitely been kind to her.

She can boast of two Olympic medals, both of them eight years apart. First in Sydney[2000], where she won the Silver medal after losing to Venus Williams in the final; and the second in Beijing[2008] where she defeated fellow Russian Safina to notch up the Gold medal.

An aggressive player by nature, Dementieva's game is by no means complete. It does have a few faults here and there and mostly all her games take her to the third set decider.

However, her weakness lies in her own game and not on any playing surface. She is compatible on every playing surface and the statistics about her slams stand proof to that.

She is a solid baseliner with good offensive and defensive shots, especially her running forehand which can be considered as her best weapon. Her main problem, however is her serve which often results in her giving more double faults as compared to her opponent.

Coached by her mother and brother, Dementieva has 13 WTA titles to her name and at 27 is one of the older players in the playing arena.

Sporty as she is, she often loses her cool and temper during play resulting in rage and rantings directed internally.

Elena Dementieva is by no means my favourite, but every time I see her game, it invokes an appreciation unconsciously and as she ploughs her way through every shot, it tells about the fighter that she is. She may be not a slam winner so far, but my hopes are still pinned on her.