Jankovic and Dementieva battle in the Kremlin Cup semis

Moscow, Russia – To the delight of the Russian crowd (and tennis bettors) the Kremlin Cup semi-final line-up features three of the best representatives (Safina, Zvonareva and Dementieva) from the host nation and world No.1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

The final four women still standing have set up two of the best semi-final billings of this season. While the all-Russian showdown between Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva has garnered much deserved attention, the second semi-final between defending champion Elena Dementieva and current World No.1 Jankovic will be the marquee match of the day on Saturday.

Tennis Betting Line: Jelena Jankovic vs. Elena Dementieva

Match Time: 03:00 AM Saturday October 11, 2008

Head-to-Head Analysis: Jankovic leads the head-to-head series 5-3; in 2008, she leads 2-1 – albeit in their first meeting this season, Dementieva was forced to retire from the match, down a set and trailing 3-1 in the second. The second time they met, Dementieva won in three sets: 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in Berlin. Their third meeting came at the US Open this year, when Jankovic topped Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 to advance to her first-ever career Grand Slam final.

Tennis Betting Analysis:

Jankovic: Jelena Jankovic recently returned to the top of the charts in tennis but she has made the move without a major title to her name. It is all in the way you look at it, but the question prevalent in the tennis betting markets is whether she truly is the best player on the WTA tour?

Jankovic is talented. She plays many tournaments, which pleases tournament directors no end. In 19 tournaments this season, she failed to reach the quarterfinal round or better only once! The word consistent comes to mind.

Nobody questions her accomplishments, but in ascending the throne, Jankovic received the dubious honour of becoming the only of 18 players to be ranked No.1 that has not lifted a major title, since the computer rankings commenced Nov 3. 1975.

Overall, this season Jankovic is 59-16 for the year with three titles: Rome, Beijing and Stuttgart.

Dementieva: Elena Dementieva did her nation proud this season by winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. She enters the Kremlin Cup as the defending champion. She is 47-14 for the year, which includes a title in Dubai.

Dementieva has revived her game this season and she is well on her way to a career best term. Aside from winning in Dubai and the gold medal, she was a finalist in Berlin and Istanbul, and she made back-to-back semis at a Grand Slam this year – Wimbledon and US Open.

Dementieva entered the draw on the strength of two quarterfinal runs in Tokyo and Stuttgart.

Tennis Betting Verdict: This is a tough match to predict. Pundits are consumed by the conversation whether Jankovic is deserving of the No.1 ranking. This adds pressure on the Serbian sensation to prove, that much more, that she is worthy, and any loss – premature or not – is seen as further proof of her unworthiness of the throne. Dementieva enters this match with the pressure of a titleholder. She has to defend her crown against Jankovic in the semis if she hopes to feature in Sunday’s final. She has home court edge and the crowd will surely do everything they can to propel her to what would surely be an all-Russian finale.