Elena Dementieva overcame her own nerves and Jelena Jankovic's gambling style for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the JPMorgan Chase Open final on Sunday.
Dementieva smacked a cross-court forehand winner on her third championship point of the two-and-a-half hour match, then jumped and squealed with delight at winning her second title this year and sixth of her eight-year pro career.
"I feel like it's just starting for me. I'm just getting to my best game," she said. "I just need one more step. I feel young enough. It just takes longer for me."
PHOTO: EPA
Dementieva's nerves were apparent a game earlier, when she sidearmed some serves in and got broken at 5-4 after squandering two match points. She had been a three-time semi-finalist here.
"Finally, a big win," she said. "I hope I'm becoming a more consistent player."
Serving out the match, Jankovic used the new electronic line-calling system to challenge an in call trailing 15-30 -- a gutsy move because if she had been wrong, she would have faced triple match point.
She was right, the ball was out, but her subsequent backhand error set up Dementieva's third and final match point.
"Sometimes she was hitting the ball like she doesn't care. She was hitting hard and everything was in. It was hard to close this match," Dementieva said. "She's very unpredictable. Sometimes she goes for the winner and she has an incredible backhand down the line."
Dementieva, a 24-year-old who was the 2004 French and US Open runner-up, raced to a 5-0 lead in the third set. But Jankovic -- helped by some well-placed volleys -- reeled off four consecutive games to get back in the match after receiving treatment for heat-related symptoms.
"When I was coming back, I made so many good volleys and I said, `Where were those volleys in the beginning?'" she said.
Both players cooled down with ice packs during changeovers. In between sets, Dementieva left the court to change her clothes while Jankovic stayed in the heat and amused herself by watching the stadium's "kiss cam."
"It was hot and we had some long points," Jankovic said. "In the beginning of the third set, I felt really tired and slow."
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
It might not have been Xander Schauffele’s most prestigious tournament victory, but it should be the American’s most memorable. Schauffele yesterday shot a seven-under 64 to win the Baycurrent Classic in Japan — a country where his Taiwan-born mother grew up and where he has many connections. Schauffele, who shot 19-under 265 over four rounds at the Yokohama Country Club, finished one shot ahead of American Max Greyserman, who was also the runner-up at the event a year earlier as he chases his first PGA Tour title. When she was four years old, Schauffele’s mother, Chen Ping-yi, moved to Japan, where her Taiwanese