Elena Dementieva successfully defended her Sydney International title on Friday, leaving Serena Williams with injury concerns just days out from the Australian Open.
The Russian fifth seed was always in control of the final, winning 6-3, 6-2 in just 75 minutes but the American world number one appeared inconvenienced by a troublesome left knee she had strapped for the match.
Williams, who is going into next week’s opening Grand Slam as defending champion, favoured the knee and she was unusually subdued during the final.
“I was struggling a little bit, but she definitely deserves all the credit for what she did,” Williams said.
“It’s definitely not [knee] ligament problems. It’s just a little pain but the strapping usually helps the pain go away sometimes.”
Williams played down concerns about playing in next week’s Australian Open.
“I had a long match the other day. It was good for me to have that long match [against France’s Aravane Rezai] and jump back and play today,” she said.
“I haven’t played for two months on a competitive level, so I think it’s good for my body to go through this now, especially since I’m in doubles as well as singles in Melbourne. Now we’re ready to go.”
The match ended in an anti-climax with Dementieva holding three match points on Serena’s serve and thumping a return winner for the championship.
It was Dementieva’s 15th career title and she became the first player to win back-to-back titles here since Martina Hingis in 2001-02.
“For sure such a big win gives you a lot of confidence,” Dementieva said.
“When it comes to the Grand Slam, it’s going to be a new challenge and I have to be ready and recover from this week and be ready from the first round.
“I was expecting a tough match and even though the score was 6-3, 6-2 it didn’t show how tense it was out on the court.”
The Russian has now won six of her last seven finals and it was her fifth victory against Williams in 12 encounters. She beat Williams in the semifinals of last year’s event.
Dementieva broke Williams’s serve five times and dominated the points, 70-47. The top seed committed 40 unforced errors in the 17 games.
It is Dementieva’s first tournament of 2010 and this time last year she had won her opening two tournaments, going on to win her first 15 matches of the season.
The defeat continued Williams’s run of outs at the Sydney International. It was her first final here after three previous losing semifinal appearances at the tournament.
Both players are projected to retain their respective rankings over the next two weeks of the Australian Open, with Williams to remain the number one for 87 weeks and Dementieva staying at five.
Williams is likely to have her opening match at the Australian Open against Poland’s Urszula Radwanska on Tuesday.
Dementieva, who could face former world number one but now unseeded Justine Henin in the second round, plays fellow Russian Vera Dushevina first up. — AFP