A Lot To Be Proud Of

Who would have thought Elena Dementieva had so much fight in her?

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Certainly not me. I'm very sorry, Elena, for saying such mean things about you, for calling your draw a cakewalk and for suggesting that you would crumble under the Serena pressure. This was one of the best women's matches I've seen in a long time. 8-6 in the third... you really don't see that often - not at Wimbledon, not if Serena's playing, unless she's playing Venus.

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Venus had a much easier time of it. I predicted that she would steamroll Safina, and she... steamrolled Safina. I didn't see the match - I fell asleep - but a scoreline like that tells a story. Still, I don't know if that result will be anywhere near as disheartening as the French Open final for her. People expected her to win that one - no one expected her to beat Venus.

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And maybe that was part of the problem. No one believed in her - not even herself.

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Clearly not a problem Dementieva had. I'm still a bit gobsmacked about this performance of hers - it totally came out of left field. She went out there, believed she could do it and went for it. Sure, she came up a little short in the end, but that was some performance. That is a lot to be proud of. And yes, another opportunity to get into the final of a Slam went begging, but Elena served warning notice - we can't keep counting her out.

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So even though we have the all family final, Elena for me was the big winner today. She's been raised significantly in my estimation. Well done, Elena!

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Elena Dementieva, 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 8-6

Venus Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-1 6-0