Dementieva advances to third round in Berlin

Elena Dementieva secured a third-round spot on Wednesday after Julia Vakulenko retired while trailing 2:6 and 0:3.
Next opponent for the Russian will be former world number one Martina Hingis, who routinely dispatched Germany’s own, Julia Schruff by 6:4 and 6:3.In the head-to-head series, Dementieva leads the Swiss Miss by 3-2, having claimed the last three matches, including a 6:2, 6:0 route in the Tokyo’s Pan Pacific Open final. After Hingis retired in late 2002, Elena was the last player to have beaten her, and at that time, the series between the two became tied at two matches apiece.
“I have nothing to lose. I only won two games, but you have to believe in yourself,” Hingis stated after being asked about the upcoming match versus Dementieva.
Should Elena advance, she is likely to meet world number one Amelie Mauresmo, who stormed to a 6:1, 6:2 victory over another Russian, this time Vera Duschevina.
The Qatar Telecom German Open has a total of $1,340,000 to be earned by the players including the doubles event.