Dementieva battles through
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:14
Dementieva arrived in Melbourne high in confidence after defeating Dinara Safina to win the Sydney International tennis tournament last week.
But the Russian struggled somewhat from the offset in the heat at Hisense Arena today as Barrois raced into a two-game lead in the first set before Dementieva pulled one back.
Dementieva soon found herself 5-3 down with Barrois serving for the set but the 27-year-old managed to break serve before winning the next game to level at 5-5. The set then went to a tiebreak after both players broke before Dementieva came out on top.
However, Barrois then breezed through to claim the second set having broken Dementieva’s serve in the fifth game before closing out emphatically to win 6-2.
But Dementieva was in blistering form in the final set as she raced into a 5-0 lead and, though Barrois pulled a game back, Dementieva won the next game to ensure her place in the second round.
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