Dementieva honest after defeat

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:31

The Russian, 27, won the first two titles of the season – in Auckland and Sydney – before making the semi-finals at the Australian Open, but her form has dipped since then.

Dementieva failed to make the most of that reprieve as she was beaten 6-3 4-6 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier court by another Australian, Samantha Stosur, who is a doubles specialist. She said: “I just feel I’m far away from being in the right shape. I don’t feel I could perform any better.”

Dementieva added: “I was not ready to play at the level I want to play. I was trying to be positive and fight for every match, but it’s a very physical game when it comes to clay so it’s not good for me. I’m just getting older, I guess. I have to work on my physical condition to get in better shape.”

Stosur, the 30th seed, makes the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in singles. She won the women’s doubles here in 2006 with Lisa Raymond.France’s Virginie Razzano is the next opponent for Stosur.

Razzano is the second Frenchwoman to make the fourth round, along with Aravane Rezai, thanks to her 7-5 7-5 victory over Tathiana Garbin.

Dementieva’s compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova had no such problems on Suzanne Lenglen court. The seventh seed demolished Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-1 6-3 and has only dropped 11 games all tournament.

Kuznetsova next plays 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Pole who beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-4.

Elsewhere, 24th seed Aleksandra Wozniak was a 6-2 3-6 6-3 winner over Lourdes Dominguez Lino and will now play either Serena Williams or Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

In the other half of the draw, ninth seed Victoria Azarenka set up a last-16 meeting with reigning champion Ana Ivanovic after beating 22nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7 7-5 6-2. The pair resumed on Saturday afternoon after finishing at one set all on Friday night.

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