It’s a question that has been asked many times but as once again the world’s top eight women players again do battle for a colossal $US 4.45 million prize fund, there are grounds for a reexamination. Ultimately what is the more determinant force in ladies’ tennis; physical strength or mental fortitude?

Surely after qualifying for these year-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships for the seventh time out of eight opportunities this century, Elena Dementieva ought to be getting beyond the stage of big match nerves. Particularly as just a couple of months ago she earned a prize that in her book is greater even than a Grand Slam crown.

Perhaps Elena should have dangled her Olympic gold medal around her neck for five minutes or so before entering Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium and taken a long hard look at her prize in a mirror. Then again she might have done just as well to cast her mind back eight months and pondered of memories from an hour’s flight east along the Arabian Gulf to Dubai where she prevailed so forcibly in the Barclay’s Tennis Championships.

Unfortunately for the Russian neither motivational force was with her as anxiety once again took a hold and she squandered a glorious opportunity to overcome a distinctly below par Venus Williams and worsened an already appalling record at this elite event. Since the tournament narrowed to an eight player field five years ago with a three-match round robin group stage preceding the semi-finals and finals, Dementieva has registered just one win in 13 attempts. And her 6-4,4-6,6-3 demise was the tenth straight defeat she has suffered.

“Maybe November is just not my month,” she said with some justification although it might be worth recalling she has already pocketed more than half a million dollars from her various visits to the Championships. So long as she completes her requisite three matches she will head home to Monte Carlo with another $100,000 to please her bank manager.

“I’m not satisfied with the way I was playing. I think I was a little bit too nervous. I just feel it's not my tournament. I don't know what's wrong with me.”

The last question is a reasonable one to ask because technically Dementieva is an extremely gifted player. Admittedly her serve is notorious for breaking down in times of stress but for the greater part it was Williams who was struggling to get the ball in play efficiently and she is supposedly the finest in the women’s game when it comes to that kind of thing.

Venus’s serve was broken seven times throughout the two hours 21 minutes long match and she hit ten double faults; exactly double Dementieva’s total. But Venus was able to shrug off the setbacks while the 27 year-old Muscovite seemed to almost expect the glaring mistakes to come…and they did, a couple of ill timed double faults gifting two crucial breaks of serve in the concluding set.

Giving her receipe for success, Wimbledon champion Venus insisted: “I don't think too hard about my mistakes because I find that never works. I just always tell myself I know how to play tennis, and I move with that. I don't focus and dwell on stuff. I just move forward. “

True to her word that is exactly what Venus is doing with two wins out of two outings so far. She fought back an early deficit to beat Dinara Safina 7-5,6-3 and despite trailing by a break in the final set against Dementieva she also never lost sight on the fact that victory was her only aim on the court.

And in this case it was her mental strength that saw her through.