17January 2009

Elena Dementieva of Russia edged past compatriot Dinara Safina 6-3,2-6,6-1 in the final Of Medibank International in Sydney.This marks Dementieva's consecutive title victory after her triumph in Auckland last week.

Dementieva started well and capitalised on the erratic ground strokes by Safina.She broke Safina early in the set and took the set 6-3.However second set witnessed shift in momentum as Safina broke Dementieva in the first game and reeled to take the second set 6-2.In third set Dementieva recollected herself and raced to take 4-0 lead  and eventually won the match 6-1 .

In men's semifinals played earlier in the day, JarkKo Nieminen of Finland upsets top seed Novak Jankovic 6-4.7-6(3).This was first win of Nieminen over Djokovic as earlier he has lost to Djokovic in previous two meeting.
                               “Today I just came to the court with the attitude that I had nothing to lose. I lost so many times against Top 10 players, even during my best year, which was 2006. I just played point after another and didn't think about winning or losing. I just enjoyed every moment out there and I felt from the beginning that I have chances to beat him.”said Nieminem

In the final,Nieminen will take on fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian, who defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3.

“I feel that today I played much better than the first one and yesterday, so looks like every day is going on I feel more feeling on the ball and on the game,” Nalbandian said.“So it’s good playing a few matches and be in the finals here.”

Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor outclassed Michael Fyrstenberg and Matkowski 2-6 7-5 (10-5) while Mike and Bob Bryan battled past Mahesh Bhuphati and Mark Knowles 1-6 7-6(4) (10-5).