"I have played a couple of times against Gisela before and I have never beaten her. So maybe today in the beginning I was a little bit nervous," she said.

The second set was an intriguing battle of wills with the determined pair level-pegging all the way to 5-5 when Dementieva made the crucial breakthrough on Dulko’s service and then held on to win.

The victory taught Dementieva some valuable lessons.

"The most important thing for me is to be focused in the beginning and not give such a big opportunity to the other player," she said on her 10th year at Wimbledon. "I have to work more to play better here."

Dementieva said it was so difficult to win a grand slam because "you have to stay fit and healthy for two weeks and it’s all about sometimes a slow start but then how you can progress and how you can improve your game.

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