On Thursday, Williams shattered Elena Dementieva’s Australian Open dream, defeating her in their semifinal in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.
The day before, it was Williams who ruined Russia’s chance of filling all four semifinal spots when she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in their quarterfinal stoush.
After their match, Kuznetsova clearly understood the significance of her loss.
“I was hoping it would be four people in semifinal of my country,” she told the media. “But I couldn't make it. You know, it's my fault. We could have make history. But, again, could have, would have. Maybe next time.”
Only five times in the Open era have all four semifinal contenders hailed from the same country.
The first time was at the Australian Open in 1977 when four locals, Kerry Reid – the eventual champion – Dianne Fromholtz, Helen Gourlay and Karen Kratzcke all made it to the final four.
The other four times, it’s been an all-American affair - at US Open 1981, Australian Open 1982, Australian Open 1983 and Wimbledon 1985.
Had Kuznetsova defeated Williams, then Russia could have added its name to this record that only the elite, or once elite, tennis nations can boast.
In the end, three Russians – world No.3 Dinara Safina, No.4 Elena Dementieva and No.7 Vera Zvonareva – made it to the semifinals from a field of 128.
An amazing achievement in itself.
At the beginning of Australian Open 2009, six out of the top 11 players in the world were Russian.
To put this in perspective, former tennis superpower the United States has just four players in the top 100, Spain has five in the top 100, the Czech Republic has seven and France has 11. Russia has 14 women in the top 100.
It’s hard to say why exactly there are so many Russians doing so well in the sport at the moment – it’s not like there’s a factory in Russia that produces top-line players.
Take a look at the background of some of Russia’s finest and it becomes clear that each player has made her own way to the top.
Sharapova spent her formative years in the States training at the Bollettieri Academy; Elena Dementieva is coached by her mother; tennis runs in the Safina family with brother Marat an Australian Open champion, while her father is a director of a tennis club in Moscow; Zvonareva’s family is the opposite – nobody else in her family is involved in tennis; and Kuznetsova’s father is an Olympic cycling coach.
One thing is for certain though, with Safina preparing to meet Williams in the final on Saturday, there’s a 50 per cent chance that a Russian will walk away with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Or will Serena stand in the way of a Russian tennis player making history once again?
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