From the WTA website

In reference to Serena's lay-off and comeback.....


* Jennifer Capriati only played once on the Tour between her first round loss at the 1993 US Open and her fully-fledged return at 1996 Essen; she received a wildcard into 1994 Philadelphia and lost in three sets to world No.13 Anke Huber; at 1996 Essen, Capriati reached the quarterfinals before falling to world No.12 Novotna in three sets; the American didn't win her next Tour singles title until 1999 Strasbourg

* Monica Seles was off the Tour for 27-and-a-half months after her stabbing at 1993 Hamburg; in the past 10 years, Seles is the only big-name player to win her comeback event, sweeping through the field at the 1995 Canadian Open [Toronto] for the loss of just 14 games in five matches

* Steffi Graf returned at Hannover in February 1998 after undergoing left knee surgery in June 1997; she hadn't played since a quarterfinal loss to Amanda Coetzer at Roland Garros; her Hannover comeback was halted by Sabine Appelmans, 63 76(5) in the quarterfinals; Graf's next title was won at New Haven in August 1998

* Venus Williams endured a nearly six-month lay-off between the 1999 season-ending Championships (losing in the semifinals to Martina Hingis) and 2000 Hamburg, where she returned after overcoming tendonitis in both wrists; in her comeback event, she fell in the quarterfinals to Amanda Coetzer 63 64; just three events later, Venus won her first major at Wimbledon in July 2000

* Lindsay Davenport injured her right knee in the last two points of her semifinal win over Kim Clijsters at the 2001 season-ending Championships and was forced to withdraw from the final against Serena Williams; the American played her next Tour event at Stanford in July 2002, where she lost in the semifinals to Clijsters 46 64 62; Davenport didn't won a Tour singles title until Tokyo [Pan Pacific] in February 2003

Yay for Monica! :hearts:

maybe Serena can do it tomorrow :)

There are some other interesting stats regarding Serena and Elena. For one, Serena has played less games and spent less time on court thatn Elena.

Dementieva Aims For Williams Sweep
Beating both Serena and Venus Williams in the one tournament has proven an almost impossible task for the WTA Tour's players. Since 1997, when Serena and Venus were both playing full-time on the Tour, only four women have managed to beat them in the same event, a small number considering that 2004 Miami was the 39th WTA Tour event they've jointly contested. Russian No.5 seed Elena Dementieva, who saved match point to defeat Venus in the quarterfinals and meets Serena in Saturday's final – has the chance to become the fifth.

Here is a look at the four occasions in which one player has beaten both Williams sisters at the one WTA Tour event:

Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario: 1998 Sydney
d. Serena 62 61 in SF; d. Venus 61 63 in Final

Steffi Graf: 1999 Sydney
d. Serena 62 36 75 in 2r; d. Venus 46 62 64 in QF

Martina Hingis: 2001 Australian Open
d. Serena 62 36 86 in QF; d. Venus 61 61 in SF

Kim Clijsters: 2002 WTA Tour Championships
d. Venus 50 ret. in SF; d. Serena 75 63 in Final



(1) SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #6) vs. (5) ELENA DEMENTIEVA (RUS #8)
Head-to-Head: S.Williams leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 2003 Wimbledon 4r (Grass/Outdoors), S.Williams won 62 62

She's proven patience is a virtue, and Serena Williams's decision to wait until she was certain she could return as a true contender may be rewarded with a comeback title run. Eight months off the Tour has only made the former world No.1 hungrier than ever to win all before her, and the 22-year-old is just a match from becoming the first player since Graf in 1996 to win three consecutive Miami titles.

Dementieva, on the other hand, hasn't played a Tier I final since 2001 Moscow. She did, however, collect the first three Tour singles titles of her career last season, and her quarterfinal win over Venus (saving match point) has boosted her confidence.

Dementieva is well aware that Serena will likely tee off on her suspect second serve, but the 22-year-old Russian has the baseline artillery to give Serena some trouble. Whether she can hold her nerve and take her opportunities may well decide the match.

ROAD TO THE FINAL

(1) SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #6)
R96: Bye
R64: d. (Q) Marta Marrero (ESP #83) 61 60 (0:42)
R32: d. (31) Elena Likhovtseva (RUS #42) 61 46 63 (1:47)
R16: d. (17) Maria Sharapova (RUS #23) 64 63 (1:15)
QF: d. Jill Craybas (USA #73) 60 61 (0:55)
SF: d. (25) Eleni Daniilidou (GRE #35) 64 64 (1:23)
Total games: 91
Won-lost: 64-27
Total time on court: 6:02

(5) ELENA DEMENTIEVA (RUS #8)
R96: Bye
R64: d. (Q) Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie (ROM #446) 64 61 (1:14)
R32: d. (26) Maria Sánchez Lorenzo (ESP #34) 64 63 (1:39)
R16: d. (12) Jelena Dokic (SCG #16) 57 61 63 (1:51)
QF: d. (2) Venus Williams (USA #17) 63 57 76(3) (2:29)
SF: d. (8) Nadia Petrova (RUS #11) 64 62 (1:27)
Total games: 116
Won-lost: 71-45
Total time on court: 8:40

Very interesting facts and they win their title recently after the comeback(except lindsay but she made alot of finals)

Serena's lost 27 games while Elena has lost 45 games. On current form it looks better for Serena than for Elena. Elena would no doubt need to elevate her game, it should be a fun final.....