Wimbledon 2009: Elena Dementieva ends Francesca Schiavone's semi-final dream

Only one player has made more Grand Slam appearances without winning a title than Elena Dementieva and she went on to win at SW19 in her 13th year of trying.

Jana Novotna took the title here in 1998 after 45 Grand Slam event appearances, and her persistence could prove a good omen for Dementieva who has secured a second consecutive semi-final place in this, her 11th Wimbledon and 43rd Grand Slam tournament.

Despite not showing her greatest form against world No 43 Francesca Schiavone on Court No 1, Dementieva’s strength of serve and stroke-play proved too dominant for her opponent who herself had a goal to fulfil. She went on court bidding to become the first Italian woman to reach the semi-final stage of the Championships. Her dream slipped away at an alarming rate after she went 6-2, 6-2 down in 66 minutes.

Schiavone herself had never previously progressed beyond the third round at Wimbledon, and on her maiden show-court outing looked overwhelmed by her surroundings. The 29-year-old wasted three break points in the third game and was broken in the second and fourth to find herself 4-0 down after just 14 minutes.

A change of racket in the fifth game did little to improve Schiavone’s form and once again she let a trio of breaks go by. On the upside she did break Dementieva in the seventh, but it was too little too late and the Russian took the first 6-2.

With the start of the second set came a second racket change for Schiavone and far closer fought encounter – initially anyway. Both held their first service games, but within minutes Dementieva’s power proved too much for the Italian, who, despite her best efforts, could do nothing to stop the bullet of a forehand planted on the baseline by the Olympic champion who broke to take a 4-1 lead.

Unplayable on her own serve Dementieva left it to Schiavone to keep herself in the match. Poor returns set the Russian up with two match points and an over-hit forehand sealed the win for the Russian who meets Serena Williams in the semi-finals on Thursday.