Dementieva: The forgotten player
Written by tkj, Wednesday December 23 2009
It occurred to me that in my previous column I forgot to mention Elena Dementieva. She is consistently one of the top players in the game. She always challenges at grand slams. She's won an Olympic Gold Medal, but yet she's always so easy to overlook.
That's in part because she still hasn't won a grand slam or been to No. 1 in the world. I hope that I am wrong, but I don't think that trend will change this year. I love Elena. I love watching her play. I think she is the best mover in the game.
She moves gracefully around the court, but she can also come up with some big shots on both sides of the ball. Her serve has improved, but it can still be a liability on important points.
To me the biggest problem with Elena is that she gets too tight when the match is on the line. I still don't think she fully believes she can win a slam. She played a great match against Serena Williams at Wimbledon. The best women's match of the year. However, Serena came up with the goods on the big points, while Elena got tight.
I hope that 2010 will be the year Elena loosens up and goes for it on the big points and finally believes she can be the best. The game is there all she needs is the belief. And if she does believe, the women's game will be that much better for it.
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2 comments
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Who cares!Just to watch the most beautiful legs on any woman in this known universe is a pleasure. Since I AM a "Leg Man", I hope she wins a major, or anything else because I would really like to see more of her. Imagine that jump'in around a pair of black 6" spike heels and babydoll PJs. I'd like to see a Dementieva calandar. All testosterone aside, I think she has the power, stealth, and speed to win a big one. She just needs to get a more aggressive "Come to the net, put the pressure on" type of game. Cleaning up her serve to stop the double faults would go a long way. There are other girls that can hit the angles and lines better like Sarina and Venus or have a stronger mental focus (Justine Henin)and until she climbs to this level of shot making and steel concentration, she's gonna be stuck where she is.
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Let me know what you think about Dementieva? Do you think she will ever win a grand slam?