/ 3 June 2004

First Russian woman in 16 years in French Open final

Ninth seed Elena Dementieva became the first Russian woman to reach the final of the French Open for 16 years on Thursday when she brushed aside Argentina’s 14th seed Paola Suarez 6-0, 7-5 in a disappointing semifinal.

The one-hour, 24-minute victory set up the prospect of an all-Russian final with compatriot Anastasia Myskina, the sixth seed, facing the United States’s 2001 champion Jennifer Capriati, the seventh seed, in the second semifinal later on Friday.

In the 107-year history of Roland Garros there has never been a Russian winner in the women’s singles, with only two of the country’s players making it to the final before this year.

Olga Morozova lost to Chris Evert in 1974 while Natasha Zvereva was humiliated 6-0, 6-0 by Steffi Graf in 1988.

Defeat for Suarez, best known for her world number one doubles partnership with Virginia Ruano Pascual, also put a dampener on Argentina’s efforts at these championships, which have seen three of their players make the semifinals of the men’s singles.

The 22-year-old, ninth-seeded Dementieva, playing in her second Grand Slam semifinal after making the last four of the US Open in 2000, had knocked out home favourite Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals and she was soon on top on Friday.

She breezed through the first set in just 27 minutes, breaking serve three times as Suarez’s game completely fell apart.

The 14th-seeded Argentinian, playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, sent down four double faults, two of them at game point in the fourth and sixth games, while her 16 unforced errors further undermined her confidence.

The quality of the match further deteriorated in the second set with the opening six games all going against serve with Dementieva’s double fault count quickly shooting up to eight before she held for the first time in the set to lead 4-3.

Friday’s semifinals were the first at a Grand Slam in four years not to feature Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters or the Williams sisters — and it showed.

Suarez held for 4-4, broke to lead 5-4 but made a complete hash of serving for the set with a wild forehand handing another break back to the Russian who then edged ahead with a winning drop shot to go 6-5.

Typically of the match, the 27-year-old Argentinian surrendered the match with her eighth double fault to put the Russina into the final. — Sapa-AFP