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Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Sergio Carmona
Date: 17 Aug 2008

Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Sergio Carmona
Date: 17 Aug 2008

Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Sergio Carmona
Date: 17 Aug 2008

17 Aug 2008 - Olympic Tennis Centre, Beijing - Chris Bowers

Preparation the key for determined Dementieva

If anyone doubts that Elena Dementieva is a worthy Olympic gold medallist, they should look at her preparation for Beijing and realise that this is the biggest thing in tennis for the striking 26-year-old Muscovite.

‘From the beginning I’ve been thinking about the Olympic Games,’ she said shortly after beating Dinara Safina 36 75 63 in the final. ‘I decided to play singles only, no doubles. I was trying to save all my energy, all my time for getting ready to play my best in Beijing. And in the Olympic season, I couldn’t think about anything else except the Olympic Games. So I did all the preparation, I didn’t play any tournaments in the States that I like to play, because I was working hard in Florida just to get used to the humidity and just to be able to play in these extremely hot conditions. Today all the hard work has paid off and I just feel happy.’

To many, Dementieva has been someone who hasn’t fulfilled her potential. Eight years ago she burst onto the scene in successive events, the 2000 US Open and the Sydney Olympics, reaching the semifinals in the first and winning silver in the second. It took her until 2004 to reach a Grand Slam final, and she reached two that year, finishing runner-up at the French and US Opens. But this is the big one for her: ‘I cannot even compare Grand Slam and Olympic Games because it [the Olympics] is just so much bigger. It’s a dream for every athlete just to be here, but to be an Olympic champion, this is the top of the career. This is, for sure, the biggest moment in my life.’

For large stretches of the match Safina looked the more likely winner. She won the first set and then recovered from 1-4 down in the second. At 5-5 she had the chance to break, and should at least have taken the match into a tiebreak. But a double-fault at 40-15 in the 12th game proved very costly, as Dementieva came back to break and take the set.

From that moment Safina felt very tired, and never retrieved the break Dementieva secured in the second game. ‘When I think of all the tournaments and journeys and singles and doubles, I think I can be very proud of what I’ve achieved,’ Safina said, ‘but at that stage [5-6] I was feeling tired. To serve well you have to push with the legs, the legs were a little bit slow, and I was not the freshest physically. I know why I lost the match, but I’m proud of what I’ve done because I don’t think many girls could have done that.’

The women’s doubles gold went to Serena and Venus Williams, who maintained their unbeaten Olympic record with a crushing 62 60 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. It’s the USA’s first tennis gold since the sisters won in Sydney, and as Serena missed Athens through injury, they have yet to lose a doubles match together in Olympic competition

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