Emotional Dementieva bows out

Former world No 3 and reigning Olympic champion Elena Dementieva last night announced her retirement after her exit from the WTA Championships.

The 29-year-old Russian made the announcement on court in Doha following her 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Francesca Schiavone in the group stage of the tournament.

Dementieva reached the finals of the French Open and US Open in 2004, and beat Serena Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina on her way to the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.

She said: "This is my last tournament. Thank you to all of the people that I have worked with for such a long time. I would like to thank all of the players for an amazing experience. It's very emotional. I would like to thank all of the people around the world for supporting me through my career. And I would like to thank my family, especially my mum."

Her compatriot Vera Zvonareva took the microphone and thanked Dementieva for her contribution to sport back home.

"Russia is proud of you," said Zvonareva. "You have done so much not only for Russian tennis but for sport in Russia. You have been an inspiration, a role model for kids growing up."