Dementieva through after scare

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:35

Dementieva, the number four seed and a semi-finalist last year, found herself 3-1 down in her first-round match against Kudryavtseva within the opening quarter of an hour.

Kudryavtseva, now based in Miami, reached the fourth round in 2008 and was really in the groove as she stunned her Russian counterpart with some accurate passing shots. But her anger at losing serve in the eighth game was all too evident. Luck was clearly on Dementieva’s side when a net cord went in her favour to level the scores at 4-4.

Kudryavtseva’s anger continued when she lost the next game, throwing her racket to the ground as Dementieva took the lead.

The damage had been done and when Kudryavtseva over-hit a crucial return, Dementieva took the first set 6-4.

It was clear that Kudryavtseva’s spirit had been broken as her higher-ranked opponent raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set.

A double-fault allowed Kudryavtseva to break Dementieva’s serve and make it 4-1.

But it was only a stay of execution as Dementieva broke back immediately and then held her serve, firing an ace to cement victory.

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