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PARIS, June 1 - Ninth seed Elena Dementieva
reached her second grand slam semi-final by beating local
favourite Amelie Mauresmo 6-4 6-3 at the French Open on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Russian, a U.S. Open semi-finalist in 2000,
was more consistent than her jittery opponent in a one-sided
quarter-final, advancing to the last four after 93 minutes on
centre court.
"I had absolutely no pressure playing against her. She was
the favourite, I had already achieved a great result so far and
I had nothing to lose", Dementieva said.
Third seed Mauresmo appeared to be favourite going into her
home grand slam after winning the two biggest clay-court
tournaments before Roland Garros -- in Rome and Berlin.
However, as in her nine previous appearances in front of her
home crowd, she faltered against an opponent she had beaten six
times in their last eight matches.
"I still have a lot of work to do to handle my emotions
here. It's getting repetitive at Roland Garros," Mauresmo said.
Sluggish, holding back her shots, Mauresmo quickly found
herself 1-3 down but picked herself up to level at 4-4.
But a break was enough for Dementieva to take the first set
6-4.
The Frenchwoman again trailed 2-0 in the second set before
fighting back to 2-2. But then Dementieva played deeper and
deeper and took a decisive 5-2 lead.
Mauresmo saved four match points and broke the Russian but
it was only a reprieve and she finally bowed 6-3 on a last
backhand wide, the victim of her nerves.
Dementieva joins compatriot Anastasia Myskina in the
semi-finals and will meet Argentina's 14th seed Paola Suarez in
the last four on Thursday.
"Paola is a very tough player on clay court. Last time we
played, I lost so I have a lot of respect for her. I know it's
going to be a tough match for her," she said.
Whatever the outcome, the winner of the semi-final will be a
first-time grand slam finalist.