戴娃娃的訪問 - 俄網 Tennis

Biofile: The Elena Dementieva Interview

By Scoop Malinowski
11/10/2005

There's no place like home for Elena Dementieva, but the Moscow-born Dementieva
has spent much of her career as a road warrior. A two-time Kremlin Cup finalist
who stunned world No. 1 Martina Hingis in the 2001 Kremlin Cup quarterfinals,
Dementieva cites her hometown tournament as her favorite stop on the WTA Tour.
The two-time Grand Slam finalist has collected four career titles on several
different continents and surfaces.

The 24-year-old Dementieva combines the good looks of a model with the spirit
of a fighter — a quality she showed in September's Fed Cup final when she
fought off French women Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo in three-set singles
victories on the red clay of Roland Garros before partnering Dinara Safina to
score a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Mauresmo and Pierce and lift Russia to its
second consecutive Fed Cup championship.

Her forehand is the fulcrum of her game, but her serve can be off center. In
the past, the Dementieva second serve, slung almost side-arm as she chased the
wide toss to her right, was like a one-note song struck to her opponent's
forehand virtually every single time. Yet it's a testament to the strength of
her strokes and her competitive character she's able to win despite such a
suspect shot. Dementieva has worked to improve the serve and has shown signs of
shoring up that stroke this season.

It was a season in which Dementieva reached finals in Charleston and
Philadelphia and advanced to the U.S. Open final four for the third time in her
career as she qualified for the season-ending Son Ericsson WTA Tour
Championships for the sixth straight year. Scoop Malinowski caught up with
Dementieva at the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia for this interview.

Status: The two-time Grand Slam finalist has won four career WTA singles
titles. She is currently ranked 8th in the world and qualified for the
season-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships for the sixth straight year.

Height: 5-foot-11 Weight: 141 pounds.

Born: October 15th, 1981 in Moscow, Russia.

Childhood Heroes: "I never had one actually. My mom was the person that I
admire all my life. I never had a hero in my life. (Who was your favorite
tennis player as a kid?) Martina Hingis, because she played smartly, like
playing chess on the court."

Hobbies/Interests: "I'm very sport person. I like to do a lot of different
sports, like ski, snow boarding— because we have a very nice off-season in the
winter that I spend in Moscow. Or I go somewhere in the mountains. But I'm busy
pretty much with my tennis life [laughs]."

Favorite Movies: "You probably don't know this one — it's Russian movie —
Moscow Doesn't Believe In Tears."

Musical Tastes: "My favorite is Shakira."

Early Tennis Memory: "When I started to play I couldn't imagine that one day
I'm going to be part of this world. I was watching on TV, but I couldn't
believe or couldn't think about that I'm gonna be one day playing Wimbledon or
French Open. I was watching on a TV and it was like another world for me. I
remember I was watching a lot of finals between Monica Seles and Steffi Graf.
That was the very exciting memory."

Favorite Meal: "I like crabs and black caviar."

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Vanilla."

Pre-Match Feeling: "It's very different. But pretty much you want to feel kinda
little scary, you want to feel worry before the match. That makes you feel like
you're going to be ready to play. But also you feel a little angry before I go
on the court. Because it's difficult to play by smiling and by being nice
person on the court [smiles]."

First Job: "Oh, that's the only one I have [laughs]. Be a tennis player."

First Car: "X5 BMW. (Color?) Black."

Greatest Sports Moment: "I would say Olympic final (2000 in Sydney, lost to
Venus Williams)."

Most Painful Moment: "Never had one [laughs]."

Closest Tennis Friends: "I have a lot of good friends here, especially Russian
players. Because I have so many memories together by playing junior
competition."

Funniest Players: "I don't know. There are so many of them...Svetlana
Kuznetsova."

Toughest Competitors: "I would have to say Patty Schnyder. (Why?) She has a...
she plays very different compared to other players. She has a great feeling.
She's lefty. And it's not easy to play against her."

Favorite Players To Watch: "I would say Andre Agassi and Serena Williams."

Funny Tennis Memory: "I had a broken shoe. I break playing in the Olympic
Games. And I didn't have another pair to replace it. And I was asking someone
from the crowd to give me another pair. That was such a funny moment [laughs].
And I still won this match. (Against who?) Barbara Schett. (Did they give you
the extra shoe?) Yeah, actually (former Russian pro) Natasha Zvereva gave it
to me. She was watching and her shoe was I think two or three sizes bigger than
mine."

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: "I can't remember. I never had [laughs]."

Favorite Tournament(s): "For me it's the Kremlin Cup — my hometown
tournament."

People Qualities Most Admired: "Kindness."

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伊蓮娜‧戴曼提耶娃登上ＷＴＡ單雙打排名第一指日可待。

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