(Stuttgart, Germany) Russian Elena Dementieva defeated Amelie Mauresmo of France in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Dementieva needed two sets, 6-2 and 7-5, to overcome Mauresmo, who is coming back from a surgery earlier this season. The Frenchwoman didn't have a chance in the first set, but she found her way back into the match in the second set. Dementieva, however, said that she never lost her confidence winning her first round match. “She started to get better in the 2nd set,” Dementieva said. “But I was doing the right things all the time, and strangely enough, serving very well.”

“I thought that it was a joke when I saw that I had to play Amelie in the first round,” Dementieva said. It turned out that Dementieva didn't have too much trouble with the former worlds No.1 Mauresmo.

“I was not happy, not in the first set. I got better in the second though. It's pretty disappointing, but I am better now than I was in Beijing. But it is still not good enough,” Mauresmo said.

“Physically and mentally everything is fine right now, all I need is more rhythm. I will get more rhythm when I play more matches. I was not ready for the US Open not physically and mentally, I really needed a break and I took a holiday.

Amelie Mauresmo out in round one in Stuttgart“I really didn't know my body needed this much time to recover after the surgery. And it surely was a big mistake that I came back too soon.

“The low point this year has definitely been the surgery. I don’t really care about missing tournaments or Roland Garros when you compare it to something like a surgery.

“Unlike the other players, I am not tired at this stage of the season. I have the feeling that I just started. But on the other hand, I really need to find my rhythm. It is not an advantage to be fitter than others, when you don’t have match rhythm. My goal is that I am going to try to find my rhythm back,” concluded Mauresmo after analysing her lost match against Dementieva.