Dementieva v Kleybanova Betting: All Russian Tennis final in Malaysia

As alluded to here in our preview to the Malaysian Open, young Russian Alisa Kleybanova has stormed through to her first WTA Tour final. After powerfully blitzering her way past opposition, the World Number 29 is the third highest ranked player, not to have won a title. She was seeded fourth for the Malaysian Open, and has had little trouble getting to the final, highlighted by her 6-4 6-1 win in the semi final over Ayumi Morita. Despite being a relative newcomer, she has displayed potential which many believe should take her far, and this is her first step in fulfilling some of that.

What Kleybanova has is raw power. The 20 year old is powerfully built and can send down howitzers for serves, which is one of the strengths of her game. But there is more to tennis than just power, but Kleybanova’s excellent service allows her to open up and expand on other aspects of her game. She will need all of her available tools and skills sets available, as she takes on tournament favourite Elena Dementieva in Sunday’s final.

The two Russians have never gone head to head before, but it presents what should be a great match between easily the two best players of the tournament. There was little doubt beforehand that Dementieva would get to the final, as the World Number 7 was the strongest competitor in the tournament, with only China’s Na Li (10th) coming close to her world ranking. Dementieva has only dropped fifteen games en-route to the final, and she is in great form this season, already having two tour titles under her belt. The veteran, or so she is called, at the age of 29, is probably the fittest woman on the tour, and she has an abundance of natural talent.

This should be a great final, between power and finesse, between veteran and rookie. Dementieva will need to hold her own serve, and find a way to deal with the cannons that are being fired at her. She is the form player, and is a class act, and will be expected to win through, but this could be one of the toughest matches she has had for a while.

Elena Dementieva to win: 1/5 at SkyBet
Alisa Kleybanova to win: 7/2 at  Boylesports