Elena Dementieva is in an excited mood ahead of this year’s Wimbledon Championships, however she claims that Venus Williams is ‘definitely the favourite’ to win the title.
Dementieva reached the semi-finals at SW19 last year, a run which has seemingly made her appreciate the tournament all the more. The young Russian said of the forthcoming Championships:
‘It is one of the very special events for all the players, absolutely unique atmosphere. I think the crowd makes it very special every time we come there. You can see such long lines of people trying to get into the stadium and you realise just how special it is for everyone.’ Dementieva was full of praise for what she calls ‘a great social event’, an event in which she declared is ‘an honour to play’.
Dementieva was not keen to comment on whether she can better her superb performance of twelve months ago, however she was confident that the woman to beat will be Venus Williams once again:
"I would say that Venus Williams is definitely the favourite to win the title. She won it five times already and she is looking for another one and she really looks very strong when it comes to Wimbledon."
Venus Williams is not the favourite in the bookmaker’s eyes, her sister Serena currently heads the markets, at a best priced 5/2 to with Paddy Power, with Venus a solid second favourite at 3/1 with Ladbrokes to win her sixth Wimbledon crown. Dementieva, who also miraculously predicted Rafael Nadal’s fall from grace at Roland Garros, days before his shock exit to Robin Soderling, is 25/1 with Hills to take her first Wimbledon title.