Elena Dementieva, who won gold at the 2008 Olympic Games, called time on her 12-year tennis career on Friday and said it felt like the “end of the world.”
The 29-year-old Russian stunned the crowd at the WTA Championships by announcing her retirement from the middle of the court at the Khalifa Tennis Complex after losing her final group game to Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-2.
Dementieva won 16 WTA Tour titles and finished runner-up at the 2004 French and US Opens, reaching a career-high of third in the world rankings last year and earning more than US$14 million in prize money.
PHOTO: AFP
As Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva and other competitors at the season-ending tournament stood side-by-side wiping away tears, Dementieva thanked her fans and paid tribute to her mother and coach Vera.
“I would like to thank all the people around the world for supporting me,” Dementieva told the crowd. “I’m so emotional and it’s so hard to say goodbye.”
Her compatriot Zvonareva took the microphone and thanked Dementieva for her contribution to sport back home.
“Russia is proud of you,” Zvonareva said. “You have done so much, not only for Russian tennis, but for sport in Russia. You have been an inspiration, a role model for kids growing up.”
Dementieva, making her 10th appearance at the prestigious year-end competition, won two of the first three tournaments this season, but struggled with a calf injury that saw her miss Wimbledon.
She suffered losses to Schiavone and world No. 1 Caroline Wosniacki in the Maroon Group in Doha, but gave a vintage performance to defeat Sam Stosur on Thursday, which made her decision to retire all the more surprising.
“Right now, I feel like it’s the end of the world because I really like to play,” she told a press conference. “I always wanted to leave this sport with a passion for it. I never wanted to wait until my ranking dropped and I’m not going to be able to go to the main draw.”
Dementieva said she made the decision to retire at the start of the season and that at 29 she had to explore new avenues.
“I think I’m ready for the big change in my life,” she said, adding that she would continue to study at university in Moscow. “It’s going to be a completely different life for me. Tennis has been such a big part of my life and always will be.”
Dementieva said winning the gold medal in Beijing was the pinnacle of her career.
“I’m sure I’m going to remember myself as Olympic champion. That’s the best thing that could ever happen in my career,” she said.
Back on court, Zvonareva maintained her unbeaten record while reaching the semi-finals of the WTA Championships, her 6-4, 7-5 victory over US Open champion Clijsters also guaranteeing her a year-end finish as world No. 2.
Had Clijsters repeated her victory over Zvonareva in the New York final last month and then progressed to win today’s final, she would have denied the Russian the second spot at the end of the year, but despite her defeat, the Belgian can still win the tournament, for both players were already sure of qualifying from their group for the last four.
Zvonareva was impressive, coming from 1-3 down in both sets and playing well when it most mattered. Her enthusiasm, stamina and ground-stroke fluency earned her a match-up with Caroline Wozniacki, the year-end world No. 1 who has twice lost to Zvonareva this year.
“It’s been an amazing week so far,” Zvonareva said. “I’ve had three difficult matches against great players and won them all.”
Clijsters’ semi-final will be against Samantha Stosur, the world No.5 from Australia who won the other group after beating Wozniacki on Wednesday.
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