Sony Ericsson WTA Tour : 2006


Dementieva Defeats Hingis for First Tier I Singles Title

Russia's Elena Dementieva captured the biggest title of her career on Sunday, crushing resurgent former world No.1 Martina Hingis 62 60 in the championship singles final of the 2006 Toray Pan Pacific Open, a $1,340,000 Tier I event on the Sony Ericsson W

Dementieva, seeded No.2 this week, dictated play from the baseline against the unseeded wild card Hingis from the beginning, breaking serve in the very first game and clinching the first set on a run of three straight games. The 24-year-old Muscovite was even more dominant in the second set, winning over twice as many points as Hingis, including converting on all three of her break opportunities en route to closing out the one-hour, one-minute victory, her third in five encounters with the 25-year-old Swiss.

"I felt like I played up to my potential today," Dementieva said. "I just went for all of my shots and I was serving pretty well also. She's a great champion and I was happy for the opportunity to play her here for my first Tier I title. It means a lot to me that the fans here in Japan have been great in supporting the tournament all week."

Dementieva captured her fifth and biggest career Tour singles title with the victory, having never won an event at the Tier I level or higher. The Russian had won two Tier II titles, at Amelia Island and Shanghai in 2003, and two Tier III titles, at Bali in 2003 and Hasselt in 2004. She had also reached several big stage finals but finished a runner-up every time, including Roland Garros and the US Open in 2004 and four Tier Is, most recently at the clay court event in Charleston last season. Dementieva is projected to rise from No.9 to No.8 when the new Tour Singles Rankings are released on Monday.

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