A Girl Who Has Lost Her Way

There I go saying all that nice stuff about Marcos Baghdatis yesterday and how nice it is to see him playing on the tour, and then he goes and retires in his match against Raemon Sluiter. I guess these mysterious injuries that have been plaguing him are still... well, plaguing him. Get well soon, Marcos.

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In other news, I think we have a few new contenders for entry into the Club of Lost Souls. Tempting as it is to enter the entire women's top ten and leave it at that, we have to be a little more selective. Ana Ivanovic is definitely in there, after losing to Petrova the other day - which wasn't even technically an upset, given that Petrova was seeded and Ivanovic was not. Jankovic is scrabbling at the door, after an embarrassing loss yesterday - whatever happened to JJ, anyway? But today's contender for Girl Who Has Lost Her Way is Elena Dementieva.

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And the year started off so well.

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I don't know how you reconcile the beginning of her year, where she won two straight tournaments and then made the Australian Open semis, with the big fat nothing that's happened since. She did get a bit of a hammering in the Australian Open, I suppose -Serena saw to that - but Safina got a worse one, and she still managed to dominate the claycourt season and reach the Roland Garros final. You see Dementieva sort of hanging about in draws now, maybe going a couple of rounds here and there, but the last time I can remember her winning is January.

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What's remarkable is how unremarkable this is. I don't think I've actually seen her play a single match since the Australian Open, though she obviously had. Her loss of way has been completely under the radar. I could offer no commentary on what she needs to fix in her game, what she needs to get back on track - well, I probably couldn't anyway being totally uneducated, but whatever - but she needs to do something. She's just taken another early round loss, and for a player with her capability, that should not be happening.

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So get back on the path, Elena. The Club of Lost Souls is so full with your WTA compatriots that you couldn't swing a cat in there at the moment. Prove me wrong.

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Today's Results

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Rainer Schuettler def. Thiemmo de Bakker, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Jeremy Chardy def. Dick Norman, 3-6 6-3 6-3

David Ferrer def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-4 6-3

Raemon Sluiter def. Marcos Baghdatis, 4-3 retired

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-3 6-3

Daniela Hantuchova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6 6-2 6-2

Francesca Schiavone def. Alona Bondarenko, 4-6 7-5 6-3

Olga Govortsova def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-1 6-3

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Men's Draw

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Frank Dancevic def. James Ward, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Leonardo Mayer def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 6-4

Denis Istomin def. Sam Querrey, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov def. Alex Bogdanovic, 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

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Women's Draw

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Virginie Razzano def. Elena Dementieva, 6-0 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Li Na, 3-1 retired

Marion Bartoli def. Anna Chakvetadze, 7-5 6-3

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Samantha Stosur, 6-1 5-7 6-1

Ekaterina Makarova def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (15-13)

Vera Dushevina def. Nadia Petrova, 5-7 1-0 retired

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Jie Zheng, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3