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Injured Serena hands Dementieva Paris final with Mauresmo
Russia's Elena Dementieva reached the final of the Paris Open after her semi-final opponent, Serena Williams, pulled out with a knee injury.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: February 15, 2009 05:28 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Paris:
Number one seed Williams had secured her place in the last four on Friday defeating French qualifier Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1, although the American was made to work much harder than she had done in her opening two matches.
In Saturday's final Dementieva will meet revitalised Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo who stunned Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 0-6, 6-1.
Williams, fresh from her Australian Open win, said on Friday that she had felt pain during her match with Loit. "My knees have been really good, and I'm really optimistic. I think they'll continue to be really good," said Williams who is due to play in Dubai next week.
"I just have been playing a lot of tennis, so maybe it's just a sign that I'll need to take a day or two off and get ready for the next event."
Former world number one Mauresmo, now 24th on the rankings, reached her first final in 18 months and will be trying on today to lift her first trophy since Antwerp in February 2007.
World number three Jankovic is the third top 10 player Mauresmo has beaten in 2009 after seeing off Serbia's French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in Brisbane and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals here.
Mauresmo set up victory based on an impressive serve which saw her send down six aces.
"I had great tactics and was aggressive," said Mauresmo who will be taking part in her sixth Paris Open final where she has won on three occasions.
"The crowd really helped me today, they responded when I really needed them. I served well in the important moments.
"I won't get carried away. Dementieva will be fresher then me. I hope that won't be too important a factor in the final."
Dementieva and Mauresmo will meet for the 15th time with the Frenchwoman holding an 8-6 advantage although the Russian has won their last two meetings.
Russia's Elena Dementieva reached the final of the Paris Open after her semi-final opponent, Serena Williams, pulled out with a knee injury.Number one seed Williams had secured her place in the last four on Friday defeating French qualifier Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1, although the American was made to work much harder than she had done in her opening two matches.
In Saturday's final Dementieva will meet revitalised Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo who stunned Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 0-6, 6-1.
Williams, fresh from her Australian Open win, said on Friday that she had felt pain during her match with Loit. "My knees have been really good, and I'm really optimistic. I think they'll continue to be really good," said Williams who is due to play in Dubai next week.
"I just have been playing a lot of tennis, so maybe it's just a sign that I'll need to take a day or two off and get ready for the next event."
Former world number one Mauresmo, now 24th on the rankings, reached her first final in 18 months and will be trying on today to lift her first trophy since Antwerp in February 2007.
World number three Jankovic is the third top 10 player Mauresmo has beaten in 2009 after seeing off Serbia's French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in Brisbane and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals here.
Mauresmo set up victory based on an impressive serve which saw her send down six aces.
"I had great tactics and was aggressive," said Mauresmo who will be taking part in her sixth Paris Open final where she has won on three occasions.
"The crowd really helped me today, they responded when I really needed them. I served well in the important moments.
"I won't get carried away. Dementieva will be fresher then me. I hope that won't be too important a factor in the final."
Dementieva and Mauresmo will meet for the 15th time with the Frenchwoman holding an 8-6 advantage although the Russian has won their last two meetings.
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
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