At Dementieva's first tournament of the season, the Medibank International in Sydney, she lost in the first round to Sofia Arvidsson 6–1, 7–5. She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova 6–2, 6–0. Dementieva then travelled to Paris for the Tier II Open Gaz de France indoor tournament. She reached the semifinals before succumbing to seventh-seeded Ágnes Szávay from Hungary 6–3, 1–6, 7–5. Dementieva then won the Tier II, US$1.5 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating second-seeded compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. This was Dementieva's fourth career Tier II tournament title but her first since 2006. Along the way, she defeated Patty Schnyder, Alyona Bondarenko, World No. 2 Ana Ivanović, and Francesca Schiavone (who defeated World No. 1 and defending champion Justine Henin in the quarterfinals).
Elena Dementieva at 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open.
At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Dementieva lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Janković. This performance caused her ranking to rise to World No. 8. At the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, Dementieva lost in the semifinals to compatriot Vera Zvonareva dropping her ranking to World No. 9. Dementieva was the seventh-seeded player at the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin but reached the final, where she lost to 13th-seeded Dinara Safina. Dementieva defeated fourth-seeded Janković in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Ivanović in the semifinals. Dementieva's win over Ivanović was her fourth in four career matches with her.
Dementieva's next tournament was the Istanbul Cup in Istanbul, Turkey where Dementieva was the top seed and defending champion. She reached the final but was unsuccessful in her attempt to win a singles title at the same tournament in consecutive years, which would have been a career first. Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland defeated Dementieva in the final. At the French Open, Dementieva defeated eleventh-seeded Zvonareva in the fourth round 6–4, 1–6, 6–2, but lost her quarterfinal match against Safina 4–6, 7–6(5), 6–0 after Dementieva had a match point while leading 5–2 in the second set.
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| Elena Dementieva 2008 |
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| Elena Dementieva 2008 |
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| Elena Dementieva 2008 |
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| Elena Dementieva 2008 |
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| Elena Dementieva 2008 |
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