Martina Hingis, the top seed of the 1,185,000-dollar WTA Kremlin Cup event, failed to defend her title after she was upset by Russian teenager Elena Dementieva in Moscow today.
It was the Russian's first win over Hingis in three meetings.
Dementieva, the eighth seed, started the match with a series of breaks earning a commanding 5-0 lead before Hingis broke back to decrease the home crowd favourite's advantage. The Russian however won the opening set 6-2.
The rivals exchanged breaks throughout the second set but 19-year-old Dementieva showed more accuracy at the decisive moments and won the set 6-2 to take the match and revenge for last year's defeat here at the quarter-final stage.
"I had a plenty of chances today, almost in every game, but I missed them all," Hingis said after the match.
"Elena (Dementieva) is very talented and physically gifted. She played very well if compared to our previous match here last year, forcing me to play more risky," she said.
"However, it was my own playing that disturbed me most of all today."
Dementieva said she was happy with today’s win over the world number one, adding she prepared thoroughly for a rematch with Hingis.
"I did a lot of homework for this match and managed to force myself to play at my top from the very beginning," Dementieva told a news conference.
"I tried to play physically stronger today and it paid," she added. "I'm very happy with my win today."
In Saturday's semi-final Dementieva will face her compatriot, the 20-year-old Anastasia Myskina, who beat Austria's Barbara Schett 6-4, 6-2.
AFP