Elena Dementieva continued her winning streak leading into the Australian Open, beating Dinara Safina 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in yesterday’s Sydney International final.
Dementieva won the Auckland title last week and enters the season’s first major as the No. 4 seed and on a 10-match winning streak.
She beat fellow Russian Safina yesterday in a repeat of the Beijing Olympic final result in August, a day after ousting top-seeded Serena Williams.
PHOTO: EPA
“This is great, to have all this pressure after winning two titles,” she said. “Would it be better if I am just going to lose first round and play without pressure in Australia? No. It’s great to have all these matches played here and in Auckland and coming to Australia with the pressure, I love it, I really do.”
In the men’s semi-finals, Novak Djokovic lost 6-4, 7-6 (3) to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, missing another chance to move to a career-high No. 2 ranking.
The 21-year-old Serbian needed to reach the Sydney final to overhaul Roger Federer at No. 2 in the rankings when the Australian Open starts on Monday.
PHOTO: AP
Nieminen next faces Argentina’s David Nalbandian, who reached his 20th ATP Tour final with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet.
“My forehand didn’t really work and you could see in all the important moments he served to my forehand and I couldn’t put the ball in,” Djokovic said. “Just a bad day. But we keep on going.”
The 27-year-old Nalbandian, who has nine tour titles and was a runner-up at Wimbledon in 2002, overpowered Gasquet, relying on backhand winners and attacking the Frenchman’s second serve.
Nalbandian won nine straight points to close out the first set and open a break in the second.
Gasquet broke back in the sixth game of the second set, helped by a between-the-legs shot from behind the baseline that he turned into a winner. Even Nalbandian applauded the shot.
But the comeback didn’t last. Nalbandian broke again to take a 4-3 lead and, after wasting three match points from 0-40 on Gasquet’s serve in the ninth game, he converted on his fourth.
Gasquet didn’t help himself, giving Nalbandian triple match point with a double-fault and a fourth match point with another.
“Every day, I feel more feeling on the ball and on the game, so it’s good playing a few matches and to be in the finals here,” Nalbandian said. “I have to keep going and believing in my game and try to do a good match tomorrow.”
■HOBART INTERNATIONAL
AP, HOBART,AUSTRALIA
Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic made her first WTA final a winning one, beating compatriot Iveta Benesova 7-5, 6-1 yesterday at the Hobart International.
The 18-year-old broke her Fed Cup teammate’s serve twice in the first set before powering away from her more experienced rival in the second set. It was the first all-Czech WTA final since 2005.
Benesova, ranked No. 41, reached the Hobart final in 2006 and was trying to win her first WTA tournament in five years. Her one title came at Acapulco, Mexico in 2004.
Kvitova and Benesova share coach David Kotyza, who was not sighted court-side during the match after saying he would not be able to watch if both his players won through to the final.
Kvitova and Benesova also shared a hotel room in Hobart.
“I don’t know if I can call her a friend anymore,” Benesova joked with the crowd. “We are sharing a room, but I think I will kick her out tonight.”
■KOOYONG CLASSIC
AP, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Stanislas Wawrinka held off Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (3), 6-7 (1), 6-4 yesterday and will face Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open tuneup tournament at Kooyong.
The all-Swiss Kooyong final could be a warmup for the fourth round of the Australian Open. At the draw earlier yesterday for the season’s first major, Wawrinka was slotted into the same quarter as his mentor and sometime hitting partner Federer.
Federer has a difficult run at the Australian Open, with potential matches against former No. 1 Carlos Moya in the second round, 2005 Australian champion Marat Safin in the third, Wawrinka in the fourth and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semis.
At Kooyong, the former home of the Australian Open, Wawrinka wasted a chance to serve for the match in the second set, leading 30-15 at 5-4 before Gonzalez broke back, forcing and dominating a tiebreaker.
He had two break points in the second game of the third set but Gonzalez saved both.
Wawrinka finally got match point on Gonzalez’s serve in the 10th game of the deciding set, clinching the win when the Olympic singles silver medalist from Chile sent a forehand long.
■HEINEKEN OPEN
AP, AUCKLAND
Top-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina will face American Sam Querrey in the Heineken Open final after both won semi-finals yesterday.
Del Potro, who won four ATP tournaments last year, beat third-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 6-3, while sixth-seeded Querrey recovered to edge David Ferrer of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
The second-seeded Ferrer was serving for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set when Querrey broke, and the big-serving American went on to win the tiebreaker, putting him in a position for his second ATP title. The 21-year-old won his first tour event last year at Las Vegas.
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