Elena Dementieva

[SAFINNO1]

Elena Dementieva received a Rado watch from a tournament sponsor on Wednesday.

Elena Dementieva (left), Daniela Hantuchova (middle) and Jelena Jankovic received some beautiful flowers at the VIP Party on Wednesday.

Elena Dementieva (right) and Shahar Peer at Wednesday's VIP party.

Dozens of hopeful fans waited patiently for Elena Dementieva's autograph at the Sony Ericsson booth on Wednesday afternoon


Russian Elena Dementieva spoke with the Swiss media during the All Access Hour on Tuesday afternoon.

[yse]

[yse]

[emma]

For Ily
Lena in Madrid

[maribrasil]

she looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alsl]

oh she loooks stunning..like a celeb

[yse]

[reese]

aww she looks so beautiful

[yse]

[safinbgfan]

Beautiful pics ;D

[Annie]

Unlike last year nice and easy first round win for Lena at AO 2007 against Stephanie Foretz 6/1 6/2 ;D ;D ;D

[Annie]

Lenochka is through to the third round of AO having beaten Muller of Germany today 6/4 3/6 6/0

[SAFINNO1]

Elena Dementieva's Tokyo Blog

TOKYO, Japan - Elena Dementieva has fond memories of Tokyo. A year ago, she won the biggest of her now-six career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles in the Japanese capital. This week she returned to the $1.34 million Toray Pan Pacific Open looking to defend one of those titles for the first time; she's also the very first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Blogger in 2007. So sit back and enjoy, as one of the world's best brings you along for the Tier I ride in Tokyo this week!

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Saturday, February 3, 2007

Hello everyone,

Although I'm disappointed that I lost today, I was happy to win the tournament's ACES Award for the off-court work I've done this week. At least I did something good for the tournament! It's very nice, and I'm happy to have won such a gift. I think I'll work harder for every other tournament now! It makes me feel a little bit better, especially after such a disappointing loss.

I was very disappointed in my game today - I made so many unforced errors. I was really expecting something better from today's match and I really wanted to defend my title... but, I guess I'll try next time.

I still have some good memories from this tournament, though. I met so many good people and friends here, and after my matches the fans were even giving me stuffed animals. But now I guess it's off to the next tournament. Today will be my last day to get some sushi in Tokyo!!

Thanks for reading my blog this week and I'll talk to you all soon!

Elena

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Friday, February 2, 2007

It was hard to wake up today. We went to bed very late. Vera Dushevina and her coach came up to our room and we were just talking and enjoying the view (our room is very high up in the hotel and we have a beautiful view, especially at night) but then we realized it was 12:30am! I had lost track of time. So, this morning I had trouble waking up. But I realized I'd be late for the breakfast if I didn't. I had to have my favourite, leche, which you can get in the buffet here. I love it. I eat a lot for breakfast here actually, because my mom forces me to!

When we came to the tournament today it was a very long first match - Sugi against Sharapova. It was like two hours. I was watching a little bit of the first set. It was funny - Sugi asked for her mom to come to the court at the end of winning the first set, then she lost the next two sets. We were laughing a bit about that. We were waiting and waiting for that match to finish, then Martina finished really fast. I went on court at about 6pm and won in straight sets, so I was pretty happy about that. I was trying to be fast because I didn't want to miss my dinner!

If you go down the streets here there are so many restaurants and bars - it's all about food here. They put pictures of the food in the window. All you have to do is point to the food to get it; you just want to take all the samples too because they look so good, but the food in the windows is plastic so I guess you can't eat those. It's getting late now, so we're probably just going to order room service.

We went out for dinner last night, though. Before seeing them at the hotel, we went out with Dushevina, her coach and my doubles partner, Olga, to get sushi. Dushevina was leaving to go back home and we were saying our goodbyes, although we'll probably see each other in Moscow in a week or so!

I'm playing Martina Hingis in the semifinals. She says she loves this tournament because she loves the city, that it's like home here. It's funny, last year in the first round I played a three hour match with Katarina Srebotnik, I even had a match point against me, then Martina came off the court after winning 60 60 and said how much she loved playing here. I was like 'What? How can you love it here!' Of course I was telling her how difficult it was to play here. But, after I won the title, I can now say I love it here too. I wouldn't say it feels like home, but I really like it becaure it's very different and interesting, and the people are so polite. They are all so supportive. It's really a pleasure for me to play here.

I'll talk to you all after my semifinal!

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Thursday, February 1, 2007

So we didn't end up going to the French restaurant for dinner last night; instead, we went to the Japanese buffet downstairs in the hotel. We had to wait quite a bit, like an hour and a half - it was quite long but it was very good.

Today I woke up at 8am, then caught the bus to the tournament at 9:15am. There are no individual cars here - it's one big bus. Normally, me and my mom are always in trouble because we're always late, and the driver is waiting for us for 20 minutes. But knowing how keen all the players are about getting to the tournament, we were on time today. I'm trying really hard to be on time here.

Once we got to the tournament, I had to rush to get ready for my match. I was the second match on the schedule and the first match went really quickly, so I didn't really have much time to warm-up. Actually, I don't think Elena Likhovtseva had much time to warm-up either. The match was tough; I was 6-3 4-0 up and then she won five games in a row. It was a real roller coaster for us. It's okay though - when two Russians play against each other, that's normal! At the press conference I was asked a really good question - they asked if I thought Martina Hingis helped me to win this tournament last year by beating Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. I said 'Don't you think so?' The reporters really enjoyed that one!

I had a long gap between my singles and doubles matches today. I was last on in doubles, so I took a little nap. I actually fell asleep on the massage table... I don't toss and turn much in my sleep so I didn't worry about falling off.

I've been on site all day. It's so difficult to stay indoors all the time, you feel like your eyes are getting really tired. You want to feel the fresh air. So, during the day, you can go on a run on the track outside. Another thing I've been doing to keep myself busy is thinking about the sumo wrestlers and practicing the moves. But I guess you don't have to go outside for that.

I'll talk to you all tomorrow after my quarterfinal!

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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Hello everyone,

So my mom woke me up today and told me we were seeing the sumo wrestlers. She said it was a one-time experience, so I definitely didn't want to miss it. We were going to go at 7:15am but instead we went at 8am; I'm glad they changed the time because I hate waking up in the morning!

When we got there, it was a little bit shocking in the first moments, because you are there watching and being so close to them, but of course we were trying to take a good picture. But actually, it was very interesting. I was in the front row, so I had a good seat for it. The best part was when the master walked in. I was watching him because he came an hour after everyone, then was drinking beer, not paying attention to anyone. I told my mom, 'Please make a good video!'

I was really surprised at how flexible they were. They are really strong. They have such a good balance. Some say sumo wrestlers aren't real athletes, but I think they are. One of them was really big, but the rest were pretty lean. I was also surprised how strong they were and how many muscles they had.

When we got back we were copying them, trying to do their stances, but it wasn't as good as how they did. It's hard to balance with one leg. That was about the time we came here to the tournament. My mom didn't try it.

I played my first doubles match today. I was lucky to play it before my singles to try the surface because it's different compared to others. It's nice to have one match to get used to the carpet. It was nice to win the match too! We didn't expect to win - it was our first time playing together and Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci are very good. My partner, Olga Savchuk, is a good friend of mine. We've known each other for a few years. She's only 19 so she's a baby compared to me - I'm 25, a few years older than her! When I had my birthday, the first message my friend sent me was 'Congratulations, now it's time to get some anti-age cream.' Already?

We might get sushi for dinner tonight but we were also planning to go to a French restaurant. It's only a few days before I fly to Paris for the next tournament, so I thought we should have that. Then maybe in Paris we'll have sushi; it's always like that. I've had sushi three nights in a row... including last night in the hotel.

I'm playing my first singles match on Thursday against Elena Likhovtseva. She likes to play here. It's going to be a tough match but what can I do? Maybe Gina from the Tour can change the draw for me.

I'll talk to you all afterwards!

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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to be writing my first blog from the wonderful city of Tokyo, where I'm playing in the Toray Pan Pacific Open. I came here from Melbourne Saturday night - no, Friday night - sorry, I had to think about that for a moment! On the Tour we travel quite a bit, moving from tournament to tournament almost every week, so sometimes I lose track of the days.

Right now it's pretty cold here in Tokyo, which was a bit shocking because we were just in Melbourne, where it was scorching hot. It's not as cold here as it was last year, but it's cold enough and we have to play indoors. This is my sixth time coming here and I'm very excited. This tournament is very special to me. I still remember very vividly winning the final last year against Martina Hingis. She's a tough player, a great competitor, and it was such a great experience. I look forward to playing my first match and hope that I can defend my title.

Unfortunately, I haven't been out much yet since I arrived here, not even to go shopping, which is very unusual for me and my mom. I think this is the only city where my mom and I don't go shopping. It's not because we don't like the shops here; it's because it's so hard to find clothes in our size. In general, Japanese people are smaller than me, so the clothes are always too small or too short for me and my mom. It's too bad really, but it doesn't stop us from going to the electronic shops, which are amazing here. I can spend hours just in one shop, checking out the latest cameras and cell phones. Their electronics are like no other; it's fascinating. We haven't bought anything yet but I know my mom has her eye on a new camera. She bought one here last year and wants another one.

Even though we haven't been able to go out too much, I've been busy. Last night, we had the official welcome party for the tournament. It's a tradition here and I think it's one of the best things about the tournament. All of the players are there and everyone always dresses up, which is a nice change from the tennis clothes. It starts out with a press conference with all the players. The tournament is so respectful to the players and makes sure that all of the players are included. Everyone feels appreciated. At the party, they introduce all of us onto a stage and present flowers to us. It really is quite an event, and it's so nice to be able to hang out with my friends on the Tour outside of tennis. The dinner is fantastic – so many different kinds of sushi, my favorite. I think I ate too much because for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like having breakfast this morning!

Today I had practice then All-Access Hour, which is the pre-tournament media roundtables. After that, I met with Yonex. We discussed new collections, which I'm very excited about. I can't say much because it's going to be a surprise, but what I can tell you is that I'll have a very nice dress at the next Grand Slam.

After that, we went to dinner – sushi of course. You can never have enough sushi.

Tomorrow, my mom is going to see the sumo wrestlers, which I'm so jealous of. The tournament has kindly organized a trip to see a practice. She's wanted to see them for so long and has been talking about it since the first day we arrived. I think she wants to go so that she can feel smaller. I really wanted to go but it's in the morning, and I was worried about my doubles match, which is the third match on the schedule. My mom promised to take lots of pictures and I'm sure she'll tell me all about it. Hopefully, I can go next time; it is so interesting. Once my mom tells me about it, I'll make sure to share with all of you tomorrow in my next blog.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'm off to bed - so, good night and talk to you tomorrow!

[Annie]

Thanks Ily...she is such a sweetheart ;D

[SAFINNO1]

Also has poor been in form - on the court i mean!