Dementieva and Safina setup all-Russian final in Berlin
Elena Dementieva has an unbeaten record against Ana Ivanovic
Saturday, 10, May 2008 07:57
Russian Elena Dementieva beat world number two Ana Ivanovic to setup a meeting with her compatriot Dinara Safina in the final of the German Open.
Dementieva had an unbeaten record over Ivanovic coming into the match, and she kept that record intact by breaking her higher ranked opponent five times in the match to ease to a 6-2, 7-5 win.
"I enjoyed the semi-final, Ana is a great player and I really gave my best today. It is never easy playing against her, but I was really focused and I worked hard for every single point," said Dementieva.
"It's going to be amazing to have a Russian final. I haven't played her (Safina) for a long time. I am really looking forward to it."
Safina, meanwhile, had a much tougher route to the final, even though her 6-4, 6-1 win over 18-year-old Belarusian Victoria Azarenka suggests a comfortable enough win.
The Russian, who had great wins over Justine Henin and Serena Williams in the earlier rounds, was twice a break down in the first set.
But Azarenka looked to have suffered an injury and started limping towards the end of the first set and Safina took advantage to scrape through the first set and then breeze through the second.