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Russia moves to Fed Cup final vs. France
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-26 09:56
Defending champion France and Russia swept their semifinals Thursday and will
play for the Fed Cup championship.
Anastasia Myskina
of Russia returns a backhand to Yvonne Meusburger of Austria during a Fed
Cup semifinal match in Moscow, November 25, 2004. Myskina won 3-6 6-3 6-1.
[Reuters] |
French Open champion Anastasia
Myskina and U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova won singles matches to power
Russia past Austria 5-0. France, led by Nathalie Dechy and Tatiana Golovin,
defeated Spain by the same score.
France beat Russia in the semifinals in Moscow last season. France will be
playing in its third final this weekend, having won the previous two. Russia is
in the fifth final but has never won.
"If we don't succeed in playing our best tennis, we have no chance to win at
all," France captain Guy Forget said. "And if we do manage to play our best
tennis from the first point to the last — which is not easy — maybe we have a
small chance."
Myskina rallied past Yvonnes Meusburger 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to give Russia an
unbeatable 3-0 lead. Kuznetsova then routed Daniela Kix 6-1, 6-1, and the
doubles team of Elena Likhovtseva and Kuznetsova completed the rout with a 6-2,
6-2 win over Meusburger and Patricia Wartusch.
Russia's Anastasia
Myskina eyes the ball during game 3 of the semi-finals of the Fed Cup
final four tournament against Austria's Yvonne Meusburger in Moscow.
[AFP] |
"They have everything behind them,"
Dechy said. "They are playing on their stadium, they have the biggest team ever,
so we can only make a surprise. And we are ready to do something good."
The Russian team faces a delicate matter after Myskina said she will quit the
Fed Cup squad if Maria Sharapova joins the squad next year. Myskina says she
doesn't like the Wimbledon champion's father.
Sharapova has never played for the team, and she wasn't invited because of
her tight calendar, captain Shamil Tarpischev said. Myskina said her problem is
with Sharapova's father and coach, Yuri.
"I feel his behavior is totally incorrect, simply rude. I don't want to be
around people like him," Myskina said.
Myskina, ranked No. 3, and Kuznetsova, ranked No. 4, gave Russia a a 2-0 lead
Wednesday against an Austrian team missing three key players. On Thursday,
Myskina won three consecutive games only to lose the next six games and drop the
set.
"She surprised me by playing very slowly and I couldn't catch her rhythm,"
Myskina said.
The Russian found her game in the second set and had no trouble in the third.
Kuznetsova needed just 39 minutes to dispatch with Kix, who replaced
Wartusch.
Dechy put the French ahead 3-0, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-1.
Golovin then stopped Marta Marrero 6-3, 6-4, and Marion Bartoli and Emelie Loit
downed Marrero and Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-5, 6-2 in doubles.
"It's the best result we could imagine," Dechy said. "We won all the matches
in straight sets and didn't spend much time on the court. It's a good
preparation for the final."
France's chances of keeping the title were once in doubt after second-ranked
Amelie Mauresmo skipped the tournament to concentrate on next season. Then,
two-time Grand Slam tournament champion Mary Pierce was sidelined with a sore
shoulder. That left Dechy and Golovin, and they proved reliable.
Dechy, ranked 21st, clinched her fifth consecutive Fed Cup victory. The
16-year-old Russian-born Golovin, who made her Fed Cup singles debut Wednesday,
won seven consecutive games to take the first set and a 4-0 lead in the second.
Golovin has moved up 328 positions in the rankings to No. 27.
"I think I have the game for it," Golovin said. "It's just a matter of how
consistent I am."
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