France 2-0 Ahead After First Day
France 2-0 Ahead After First Day
Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce put France firmly in control in their
quarterfinal tie with Italy, both winning their singles matches in
straight sets on Saturday.
Pierce secured France's second point of the day with a 63 64 victory over the
higher-ranked Francesca Schiavone, Amelie Mauresmo having earlier cruised to
her 11th consecutive Fed Cup singles win by defeating Silvia Farina 62 61.
The defending champions now have a comfortable lead going into Sunday.
Captain Guy Forget, however, has cautioned his players about celebrating
too early. "I am very satisfied with the way the girls played today, but
my job now is to help them stay focussed, because we still have one point
to make," Forget said. "Tennis is always capable of providing surprises.
And I hate surprises," Forget added.
And his Italian counterpart, though visibly disappointed with Saturday's
result, said Italy should not be ruled out just yet. "Obviously I'm not
very happy with the result, but it is something that can be expected against
the defending champions. On Sunday, we will just have to play exceptionally
well and hope that they play a little less well than today," Corrado
Barazzutti said.
In Saturday's opening rubber, Mauresmo, the world No.3, met with little
resistance as she powered past Italian No. 2 Silvia Farina Elia 62 61 in
just over an hour.
"I came on the pitch full of confidence, knowing exactly what I had to do,"
Mauresmo said after the match. "And once I got into the rhythm, I didn't
leave her many opportunities to come back into the match. I felt very,
very confident," she said.
Farina Elia was only able to hold serve once in each set as the Frenchwoman
made a smooth transition back to clay after reaching the Wimbledon
semifinals. "I knew the first few games were going to be important as I
needed to get used to a surface I hadn't played on for a few weeks. Perhaps
it just took me less time to adapt than her, but I never feared losing the
match," Mauresmo said.
A humbled Farina conceded that her performance would not have been sufficient
to earn her a first victory in six clashes against the Frenchwoman. "It was a
very negative day for me, from all points of view," the Italian said. "I am
really disappointed. She proved once again that she can hit the ball very
well, but the strong wind and high temperature didn't held me either," she
said.
In Saturday's second rubber, Schiavone had only herself to blame for her
defeat, which came in just under 1 hour and 20 minutes of play. "I played
badly and she played very well. It's as simple as that," the 24-year-old
Italian said.
Pierce, on the other hand, conceded that she had been expecting a tougher
battle on Italy's red clay. "It was my first game against Francesca, and
I was honestly expecting a more difficult match. In any case, I am very
happy to have gained a point that will hopefully allow us to win the tie,"
the 29-year-old veteran said.
To prevent Pierce's prophecy from being fulfilled, Italy must now rely on an
exceptional performance from Schiavone, who must beat Mauresmo in Sunday's
opening rubber.The world's No. 17 player has already beaten the granitic
Frenchwoman once this year, in Warsaw in April, and is convinced she can
do so again in Rimini.
"Mauresmo is not invincible," Schiavone warned.
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