A new gold medal champion will be crowned at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, and Na Li head for the semifinal round on Saturday.
Because of rain delays the championship match has been moved to Sunday, the same day as the men’s gold medal match.
Three Russian players have weathered the field at Beijing, assuring Russia a medal in the event. Dinara Safina heads into the semifinals as the favorite against China’s Na Li, who has played some of the best tennis of her career over the past week. She handily defeated Venus Williams in straight sets during the quarterfinals, giving her home crowd much to cheer about on the Olympic Green.
Safina is riding a two-tournament win streak on hard courts in the United States and is eager to translate that momentum into a major victory in China. She reached the final round at the French Open in May, an experience which boosted her oft-fledging confidence.
The second semifinal of the day is an all-Russian affair between Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva. Both players have struggled mentally over the years, but both have performed admirably thus far in the competition.
Elena Dementieva has come this close to a gold medal before, though she lost the final to Venus Williams in 2000. While she was happy to walk away from Australia with a silver medal around her neck, winning gold would be the biggest moment of her career.
Prediction: Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva
