Elena Dementieva looked like a battered warrior as she sat in her courtside chair, with dark, blood-like splotches on her lower legs and a bandage on her left calf.
The world's fifth-ranked women's tennis player had, just moments earlier, collapsed to her knees, covering her tearful face in her hands in joyous relief after a draining 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 win over Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que.
The red clay staining Dementieva's legs created an impression that reflected the dramatic 2 hour 43 minute match on the French Open's Court Suzanne Lenglen.
"She looked like she'd just won Wimbledon," Wozniak was able to joke later about Dementieva's pose at the moment of victory.
On the court, the quality of the rallies heightened as the first set climbed to 3-3 and 4-4. Then, it became apparent the 12-inch wrap on Dementieva's calf was definitely not decorative. She was struggling to plant and push off on that leg and, trailing 4-5, she had a visit from the trainer and took a pain-killer.
After winning the first point of the ensuing tiebreak, the Russian dropped six in a row with some ineffectual play, eventually losing it 7-2.
As she walked off at end of the set, once sensed she might be going to retire. Dementieva, who hobbled into her post-match media conference, was asked how close she came to stopping.
"To be honest with you, I was very close," she said. "I had so much pain, but I didn't want to stop the match. This tournament is just so important to me, so I was trying to do my best no matter what."
Dementieva, 28, attended the Lycée Charles de Gaulle in Moscow as an adolescent and is very fond of all things French.
Early in the second set on Friday, her continuing the match seemed questionable. But once she recovered from a 1-3 deficit to tie the score at 3-3, it became obvious her claws were in the match and she would stay around to the end.
Wozniak did not make it easy, hitting with unflinching consistency and depth, trading ground strokes with one of the best pure hitters on the women's tour.
"I'm here for a reason," Wozniak said later with commendable self-assurance, "because I am supposed to compete against top-10 players in the world and allow my game [to flow]freely and not be afraid or intimidated."
Though she has been through a rough few months, that has included regaining her fitness, changing coaches and rejigging technical aspects of her game, Wozniak competed with a genuine professional edge and was more like the woman who got to a No. 21 ranking in June of last year, not the one who currently slumbers at No. 48.
In the final analysis, Friday's match probably came down to Dementieva having a little more firepower and match savvy. The statistical side was impressive for two players involved in so many extended rallies - Dementieva had 48 winners and 45 unforced errors, while Wozniak was 23 winners, 24 unforced errors.
"I'm just very, very proud that I was able to stay strong and fight no matter what, especially with this kind of pain," Dementieva said.
Having dusted Wozniak 6-0, 6-1 just two weeks ago, she acknowledged the 22-year-old Canadian's improvement.
"She played so much better than the match in Madrid," Dementieva said. "She moved well, pushed hard from the baseline and her backhand was very solid. She was fighting right to the end."
A talented ball-striker, Wozniak has not always looked to have the same pit-of-the-stomach appetite for the game as some players. But yesterday, she had a mature perspective on the match after an effort that left little to be desired.
"It's heartbreaking, but it's also encouraging," she said. "I'm proud of myself."
As she got up after her media interview, Wozniak was enthused and almost shouted: "I feel alive, enjoying life."
It was nice to see her happy - every bit the beautiful loser.
Special to The Globe and Mail