In a tiebreaker she had to win to have a chance at the semis, baseline bomber Elena Dementieva came to net as if ordained. Not once, not twice, not even three times. In each of the first four points of the third-set overtime, the outcome was determined with Dementieva at net.
Whether she ended up there because of a Sam Stosur drop shot or by her own foray, Dementieva was there. And based on Stosur's accuracy in her first two round-robin matches, that wasn't a good place for the Russian to be. But Dementieva did well for herself up close, just a few games after holding her right elbow (her hitting one) in discomfort. She won two points with volleys, one quite difficult, but she also struck two too low. The tiebreaker was tied then, but it wouldn't be for long.
From the beginning, it was apparent that Stosur wasn't the same lights-out player we saw in her first two matches. She dumped plenty of shots into net and quite a few wide. That's not to say she didn't play well, but if Stosur was as sharp as she was against Caroline Wozniacki, she would have beaten Dementieva in straights. Dementieva seemed to recognize this, and threw in a few more net rushes than usual. It was a good change-up tactic that often troubled Stosur. Dementieva also found her shotmaking that was absent in her first match, a drubbing at the hands of Wozniacki.
It all seemed to pay off for Dementieva in the final-set tiebreaker, played after an up-and-down contest. On the fifth point, Stosur hit an unforced error, giving Dementieva the lead. Stosur would then hit three more errant shots to give Dementieva a 6-2 advantage. The Russian closed it out 7-4, and took the match by a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) score. Stosur clinched her spot in the semis by winning the first set. Dementieva's path to the weekend remains difficult, but at least it's still possible.
—Ed McGrogan