Dementieva Marries Afinogenov In Moscow

At a beautiful ceremony in Moscow, Elena Dementieva married longtime boyfriend Maxim Afinogenov.

Published July 19, 2011 12:00

Dementieva Marries Afinogenov In Moscow
Elena Dementieva, Maxim Afinogenov

MOSCOW, Russia - Elena Dementieva, who retired from the WTA at the end of last season, married longtime boyfriend and NHL star Maxim Afinogenov in a beautiful ceremony at the Ritz Carlton hotel in the center of Moscow, right across from the Red Square and the Kremlin, on Saturday, July 16, 2011.

The wedding took place on the roof, with pigeons released into the sky to commemorate the occasion. The reception was held on the second floor.

With a tennis star and a hockey star tying the knot, it's inevitable there would be an all-star guest list. Among those in attendance were Dementieva's fellow tennis players Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Vesnina, Vera Dushevina, Ekaterina Makarova, Maria Kirilenko and Igor Andreev, as well President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpischev. There were also video messages from Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki. Dushevina caught the bride's bouquet.

Among the hockey stars in attendance were Afinogenov's fellow players Alexander Ovechkin, Alexei Yashin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Andrei Markov, former player Aleksei Kasatonov, coach Vladimir Yurzinov and President of the Continental Ice Hockey League Alexander Medvedev.

Dementieva, 29, is a former No.3 on the WTA who won 16 career titles and reached another 16 finals (including two Grand Slam finals, the French and US Opens in 2004). Afinogenov, 31, played in the NHL for 10 seasons - nine with the Buffalo Sabres and one with the Atlanta Thrashers - and is now with the SKA St. Petersburg as part of the Continental Ice Hockey League.

Both Dementieva and Afinogenov are Olympic medalists - Dementieva won silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics (losing to Venus Williams in the final) and the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (beating Safina in the final). Afinogenov won a bronze at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics - he also has two golds himself (one in Junior World Championships, one in World Championships).

Elena Dementieva, Maxim Afinogenov

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