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Yelena Vyacheslavovna Dementyeva (Russian
language|Russian:
Елена
Вячесла&
#1074;овна
Дементь&
#1077;ва; born October 15, 1981,
Moscow), better known as Elena Dementieva, is a
professional tennis player from Russia.  

==Tennis Career==
Dementieva played and won her first international
tournament, Les Petits Aces, in France at the age
of 13. In 1997, she entered the WTA top 500. She
turned professional in 1998 and went on to enter
the top 100 in 1999. 

In 1999, she represented Russia in Fed Cup final
against USA scoring Russia's only point. 1999 was
also the year in which she played her first Grand
Slam main draws qualifying for Australian Open,
Roland Garros and Wimbledon
Championships|Wimbledon and getting a direct entry
into the US Open. She managed to reach the 2nd
round at the Australian Open and Roland Garros,
made a first round exit at Wimbledon and managed
to reach the 3rd round of the US Open. 

In 2000, she entered the top 20 by winning more
than 40 singles matches for the second straight
year and earned over US $600,000. She reached her
first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open before
losing to Lindsay Davenport, becoming the first
woman representing Russia to reach a US Open
semifinal. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney,
she won the silver medal, losing to Venus Williams
in the final. She was named the 2000 WTA tour's
Most Improved Player. 

2001 was the second straight year in which she
finished in the WTA top 20. During the year she
became the no. 1 Russian tennis player, a position
previously held by Anna Kournikova since December
1997. 

In 2003, she played the most tournaments among the
top 10 players (27) and won approximately US
$900,000 in prize money. At Amelia Island, she won
her first WTA tour title in her 92nd tour event,
defeating 8th seeded Amanda Coetzer, 4th seeded
Daniela Hantuchová, the then world no. 1 Justin
Henin and world no. 2 Lindsay Davenport and 
became the lowest seed (10th) to win the
tournament in its 24-year history. She won
back-to-back titles in Bali and Shanghai defeating
Chanda Rubin in the final in both events. She
finished 2003 in the top 10.
In addition she reached the Semi-Finals of the
Wimbledon doubles with her friend and compatriot
 Lina Krasnoroutskaya, beating the Williams
sisters on the way.


In 2004, Dementieva had a breakthrough year. She
opened the season in January at Sydney as world
no. 8 and the 6th seed, losing in the quarterfinal
to world no. 5 Lindsay Davenport. Her ranking
remained the same at the Australian Open where she
was defeated by world no. 79 Jankovic. In
February, she was forced to withdraw from Antwerp
prior to start of play due to a right shoulder
strain. She also withdrew from Indian Wells in
March. At Miami, seeded 5th with a first round
bye, she eliminated former world no. 1 Venus
Williams who was seeded 2nd in the semifinal to
face another former world no. 1, top seed and
two-time defending and eventual champion Serena
Williams. On April 5, she reached her highest
singles ranking as 6th in the world. Along with
no. 5 Myskina and no. 9 Nadia Petrova, it was the
first time ever that 3 Russians appeared in the
WTA top 10 simultaneously. In May, at Roland
Garros, seeded 9th, she reached her first Grand
Slam final defeating former world no. 1 Lindsay
Davenport in straight sets on the way.  She lost
to compatriot 6th seeded Anastasia Myskina in an
unprecedented all-Russian Grand Slam final. The
match was witnessed by former Russian president
Boris Yeltsin. It was the first time in the Open
Era that three Russian women (Dementieva, Myskina
and Sharapova) advanced to a Grand Slam
quarterfinal and when she and Myskina reached the
semifinals, it was the first time in the Open Era
that two Russian women advanced to a Grand Slam
semifinal. Incidentally, the last female Russian
Grand Slam finalist was Dementieva's coach, Olga
Morozova|Morozova at 1974 Roland Garros and
Wimbledon. At Wimbledon, ranked and seeded no. 6,
she was upset in the first round by world no. 129
Kleinova in 3 sets. Later that year, at the US
Open, she reached her second grand slam final,
defeating No. 8 seed Jennifer Capriati and No. 2
seed Amelie Mauresmo on the way. 19 year old
countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated
Dementieva in straight sets in the final, to
become the third consecutive Russian woman
first-time grand slam winner. It was only the
second time two Russian women played a grand slam
singles final.

==Titles (9)==
{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1"
style="border: #cccccc solid 1px; border-collapse:
collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee" 
|Legend (Singles)
|- bgcolor="#e5d1cb" 
| Grand Slam (0)
|- bgcolor="#ffffcc" 
| Tour Championships (0) 
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| Tier I Event (0)
|- bgcolor="#ffffff" 
| WTA Tour (4)
|}

===Singles (4)===
{| bgcolor="#f7f8ff" cellpadding="3"
cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%;
border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse:
collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
|No.
|Date
|Tournament
|Surface
|Opponent in the Final
|Score
|-
| 1.
| Apr 14, 2003
| Amelia Island, USA
| Clay
| Lindsay Davenport (USA)   
| 4-6 7-5 6-3
|-
| 2.
| Sep 8, 2003
| Bali, Indonesia
| Hard
| Chanda Rubin (USA)
| 6-2 6-1
|-
| 3.
| Sep 15, 2003
| Shanghai, China
| Hard
| Chanda Rubin (USA)
| 6-3 7-6
|-
| 4.
| Sep 27, 2004
| Hasselt, Belgium
| Hard
| Elena Bovina (Russia)
| 0-6 6-0 6-4
|}

===Singles Finalist (9)===
*2000: The Olympics-Sydney (lost to Venus
Williams)
*2001: Acapulco (lost to Amanda Coetzer)
*2001: Moscow (lost to Jelena Dokic)
*2002: ’s-Hertogenbosch (lost to Eleni
Daniilidou)
*2004: Miami (lost to Serena Williams)
*2004: Roland Garros (lost to Anastasia Myskina)
*2004: US Open (lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova)
*2004: Moscow (lost to Anastasia Myskina)
*2005: Charleston (lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne)

===Doubles Titles (5)===
*2002: Berlin (with Janette Husarova)
*2002: San Diego (with Janette Husarova)
*2002: Moscow (with Janette Husarova)
*2002: WTA Tour Championships (with Janette
Husarova)
*2003: 's Hertogenbosch (with Lina
Krasnoroutskaya)

==External links==
*wta|id=40289|name=Elena Dementieva