lena Dementieva advanced to her first ever quarterfinals of The Championships from Wimbledon, by routing world number 62 Shenay Perry from the USA.
Dementieva was impeccable in disposing of the last American player in the draw, both in the men’s and women’s draws. Making good use of her tremendous and explosvie power off the ground, Dementieva posted a 6-2, 6-0 win, by far the easiest of the tournament up to this stage for her. After battling through almost two hours versus Mirza, another three with Meghann Shaughnessy and another hour and three quarters versus Likhovtseva, this 54 minute victory was certainly a bless for Dementieva, who will need all the strenghts she can gather to face Maria Sharapova in the next round of The Championships.
These two blonde towers will square off for the 6th time with Sharapova leading the series 4-1. In their only prior match on grass, and also first clash between them ever, Sharapova came away with the vicotry in three sets in Birmingham back in 2003. Later that year Dementieva would gain revenge in Shanghai en route to her third career title. Their last meeting came earlier this year in Indian Wells, when Sharapova defeated the older blonde in straigh sets in the final round, after Elena had beaten Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semis.
This win also marks the first time since the 2005 US Open that Dementieva reaches the 4th round or better of a grand slam, after having disappointing losses in both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. It is also the first time Elena Dementieva reached the last 16 at Wimbledon. Now, the only slam where she has yet to reach this stage is the Australian Open.
For American tennis this was a disastrous day. It marked the first time since 1911 that the latter stages of Wimbledon won’t feature the presence of an American, either male or female.
On other results for day 7 of The Championships, Amelie Mauresmo defeated serbian Ana Ivanovic; Anastasia Myskina sent another Serbian packing, this being the conqueror of Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic in straight sets. 2004 champion Maria Sharapova needed three sets to put away a brave challenge from Flavia Pennetta. In the upset of the day, Na Li defeated big serving Nicole Vaidisova in a comeback victory after the loss of the first set. Also making headlines is Severine Bremond, who upset Ai Sugiyama in two sets and is for the first time featuring the last 8 in a grand slam. Bremond made headlines earlier in the tournament after upsetting Patty Schnyder in the second round.
On doubles action Dementieva/Pennetta brushed aside the young team of Mirza/Krajicek in two sets. Also back to the great results is the team composed by the successful team of Ruano Pascual/Suarez, who after injuries affecting Suarez, were out for many months. The Spanish/Argentinian pair beat top seeds Raymond/Stosur by 6-4 and 6-4. Number 2 seeds Black/Stubbs also advanced.
