Dementieva, Vesnina move into final at ASB Classic

Jan 9, 2009 - 1:16 PM AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Ticker) -- Top-seeded Elena Dementieva cruised through to the ASB Classic final, defeating last year's runner-up Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-2 on Friday.

The Russian Dementieva, the world No. 4, was too much for the Frenchwoman, who was defeated in the 2008 final by American Lindsay Davenport.

Dementieva, who advanced to face compatriot Elena Vesnina in the final, used powerful ground strokes to make up for a stuttering serve.

Rezai tried gallantly to take advantage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist's struggles with an aggressive approach, but could not find the form that had earned the Auckland crowd favorite a 7-1 record at the tournament since last year's debut.

Dementieva landed the first blow when she broke Rezai's serve to go up 1-0 in the first set.

Rezai, the world No. 97, bounced back when Dementieva's serving faltered. Both players then held in their next service games but on Rezai's next serve, the Russian went up a break, taking a 3-2 lead.

Two double faults by Rezai saw her broken again to go down 5-2 and although she had a break point in the eighth game, a perfect forehand down the line gave Dementieva the first set in 33 minutes.

Dementieva was again out of the blocks quickly in the second set, breaking Rezai in the first game.

The Frenchwoman was only able to hold serve in the third and seventh games, eventually being defeated in 67 minutes by the same score she lost to Davenport in last year's final.

Vesnina moved on to Saturday's final after claiming a 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5 triumph over England's Anne Keothavong in the other semifinal.

The first set between Vesnina and Keothavong was 69 minutes of nerves and missed opportunities, particularly for the Russian, who twice had the chance to serve out the set but was unable to do so.

The first game of the match set the tone as Vesnina broke on the strength of her opponent's errors.

She lost the advantage as Keothavong evened the match at 2-2 but Vesnina broke straight back and took a 5-3 advantage to serve for the first set.

However, Keothavong fought back to 5-4 and eventually forced a tiebreak. The Brit claimed a break early and, with three set points, produced a scorching backhand to take the tiebreak 7-3.

Any momentum Keothavong had gathered was blown away in the second set as Vesnina took it 6-1 in 39 minutes. Keothavong's only success came on her opponent's serve and her body language began to slump.

"In the first and second sets I was playing a little bit up and down, so in the third set I was just trying to stay positive and play consistently," Vesnina said. "I'm so happy I was able to win. I feel wonderful."

A bizarre on-court conversation, while Vesnina was on a medical timeout for cramps, then saw Keothavong chastise her coach for not showing enough positive reinforcement from the stands between points.

The third set went on serve until the seventh game when Keothavong was broken after a contentious line call, for which she reacted angrily with the chair umpire.

At deuce and 5-5 on Keothavong's serve, Vesnina's forehand hit the net cord and dropped just inside the court, leading to a break and eventually victory when she closed out the third set 7-5, wasting four match points in the process.

First prize is $37,000.