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Russian rocket rolls on
By Bivash Mukherjee 2003-9-22
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ELENA Dementieva is obviously enjoying her best season in tennis.

The top-seeded Russian fought back a late surge by Chanda Rubin to beat the American 6-3, 7-6 (6) and claim the US$585,000 Shanghai Polo Open on the hardcourts of the Xianxia Tennis Center yesterday.

In a clash between the top two seeds, Dementieva clinched her second title in as many weeks and against the same opponent.

The Russian overpowered Rubin 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Wismilak International in Bali, Indonesia, last Sunday.

It looked like it would be another walkover for Dementieva, who easily grabbed the first set 6-3, but found a much stronger opponent in the second.

Rubin came charging back into the match in the second set, playing a more tactical game to counter Demen-tieva’s strong forehand returns.

She raced to 2-0 lead with frequent forays to the net but then handed Dementieva a lifeline with too many errors.

Broken in the third game and more regularly after that, the Russian squared the game 4-4 to come back into the match and set up a thrilling tie-breaker.

Dementieva passed Rubin repeatedly with some strong cross-court rallies, much to the delight of an appreciative crowd. The American had no answer as she found herself stranded at the net once too often. In some ways, Rubin’s aggressive stance was her own undoing, as she gifted away points with her error-prone game.

Rubin committed the same mistakes in the tightly fought tiebreaker to eventually hand the match to her rival.

The American said she wasn’t quite playing her best tennis and failed to take her chances. “I just wasn’t solid enough,” she said.

Dementieva said she was tired after her long match with Ai Sugiyama in the semifinals on Saturday and didn’t even want to think of another three-setter. “When it got very close in the second set, I did everything I could to finish it in the second set,” she said.

Dementieva said Rubin was an easier opponent in Bali. “It was easier last week (in Bali). This time she (Rubin) tried to put pressure on me by coming to the net more often. She has a good forehand so I tried to play to her backhand more,” the Russian said.

The eighth-ranked player admitted that she still had to put in more work into her serves. “Hopefully, the next time I come here, I will be serving like (Andy) Roddick,” she quipped.

It was the third career title for Dementieva, who walked away with US$93,000 in prize money and moved up to seventh place in the WTA Race.

In the doubles later, Emile Loit of France and Australian Nicole Pratt beat Sugiyama of Japan and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-3 in a clash of unseeded pairings to take the crown and bring the curtains on the women’s event.

But Shanghai will continue to be in the grip of tennis fever as the ATP Heineken Open kicks off today at the same venue.

Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic is the top seed in a draw that also includes Dutchman Martin Verkerk at No 2 and Mark “The Scud” Philippousis of Australia seeded third.

China will be represented by Zhu Benqiang and Zeng Shaoxuan, with Zhu taking on Magnus Norman, the seventh-seeded Swede, and Zeng facing a tough opener against the hard-serving Verkerk.

Russian rocket rolls on by — ELENA Dementieva is obviously enjoying her best season in tennis.