Sixth seed Elena Dementieva almost self-destructed in her second round match at Roland Garros, but she managed to pull out a close, three set win over Viktoriya Kutuzova of the Ukraine today.
Dementieva, who is known more for her notorious serve rather than her two Grand Slam finalist finishes, handed the first set to Kutuzova last night before darkness halted the match.
Dementieva was able to pull herself together this afternoon and in spite of her fifteen double faults, she scored a berth in the third round with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory.
Her serve is the most inconsistent part of her tennis arsenal, so much so that Dementieva rarely relies on it to get through a match. Instead of a powerful serve, she has compensated with her service return game and can return serve with the most powerful players on tour.
Dementieva will face Israel’s Shahar Peer in the third round.
