Dementieva Retires, Sends Schiavone to Women's Final

The most accomplished player left in the women's French Open conceded her match in puzzling fashion Thursday. In a strange ending to the first women's semifinal match at Roland Garros, No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva, with tears rolling down her face, unexpectedly retired after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to No. 17 seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

With Dementieva's withdrawal, Schiavone advanced to Saturday's final against No. 7 seed Samantha Stosur, who upended Jelena Jankovic in Thursday's other semifinal.

In a press conference following the match, Dementieva noted she retired due to a tear in her left calf, an injury she said she first suffered in the second round of the tournament. Dementieva came into the match with wraps on both calves. Dementieva noted that she would have retired even if she had won the first-set tiebreak. It was the first time Dementieva had ever retired in a Grand Slam.

The 28-year-old Dementieva is considered by most to be the best active female tennis player to never win a Grand Slam. She has been consistently one of the top players on tour for many years now. And with the top three seeds already out of the women's tournament, Dementieva had an opportunity to take a stranglehold on the final four. But it was not to be, once again.

Dementieva, who won the gold medal in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was the runner-up at the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open.

The 2010 French Open was Dementieva's 46th consecutive Grand Slam appearance, a record among active players on tour. She is now 2-7 in Grand Slam semifinals.

Schiavone played splendid tennis taking the first set, 7-6(3). After Dementieva conceded the match and shook the Italian's hand, a shocked Schiavone celebrated by dropping to her knees and kissing the clay court. It will be Italy's first appearance in a women's Open-Era Grand Slam final.

Dementieva, meanwhile, walked off the court having never called trainers to her side the entire match. Dementieva did not seem visibly hampered by her nagging leg injuries, either.

The Russian explained in her press conference that she didn't want to call a trainer over because she believed there was nothing more that could have been done to help her painful injury. She noted that she received hours of treatment prior to the match and it was just too painful to continue.

The first set was competitive, until the tiebreak. Schiavone broke Dementieva's serve as the Russian double-faulted in the eighth game to level the score at 4-4. Both players then held serve twice to push the match on into the tiebreak.

After Dementieva took the first two points in the tiebreak, Schiavone ran off seven of the next eight to take a 6-3 lead.

Dementieva lost the next point in the tiebreaker, dropped the set and retired from the match -- visibly upset she couldn't continue, as another Grand Slam title eluded her.