France Through to the Final
25 Nov 2004 - Krylatskoe Ice Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Jo Sirman - FRA v ESP
France Through to the Final
The final score was 5-0 to France in its semifinal defeat of Spain, after
Nathalie Dechy secured the decisive third point in the first of Thursday's
reverse singles matches.
Tatiana Golovin backed up Dechy's 63 61 defeat of Anabel Medina Garrigues
with another straight-sets victory, overcoming Marta Marrero 63 64 in one
hour, six minutes. Marrero, 21, had replaced Maria Sanchez Lorenzo for the
match.
In the doubles, Marion Bartoli made a successful Fed Cup debut in tandem
with Emilie Loit, the pair getting the better of doubles world No. 1
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Marrero 75 62.
France will now be bidding for its third Fed Cup title, having previously
never lost a final in appearances in 1997 and, of course, last year. The
last nation to successfully defend the Fed Cup title was the United States
in 1999-2000.
It ended a disappointing couple of days for Spain, whose hopes of a good
performance in Moscow appeared to receive a last-minute boost when France's
Mary Pierce was forced to sit out the semis due to a shoulder injury. The
chance for Spanish glory now lies solely with their male players, who face
the United States in the Davis Cup Final in Seville next week.
"It was not for us, the French did much better," said Spain's captain Miguel
Margets. "All I can say is, well played to the French team; we're going to
have to keep learning to play on this kind of surface."
Golovin, the French 16-year-old who left her native Russia at eight months
old and who has returned to her mother country for the first time this week,
was delighted to build on her team's victory. "We did the job and won the
matches against Spain. It was hard to play (against Marrero) because we had
already won the semifinal but now we try to get ready for Russia."
While everyone who witnessed their superlative display against Austria on
Wednesday assumes that only the court freezing over can stop the hosts from
getting to the final, Russia must still win one more point when their
semifinal resumes this afternoon.
Bolstered by a 2-0 tie score achieved by Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia
Myskina for the loss of just two games, Myskina can clinch Russia's place
in the final by defeating Yvonne Meusburger in the first match. Kuznetsova
is then due to play Patricia Wartusch, before Elena Likhovtseva and Vera
Zvonareva team up against Meusburger and Wartusch in the doubles. Play
gets underway at 17:00 local time.
Talking about a possible meeting with Russia in the final, French captain
Guy Forget said, "Of course the Russians are better, almost physically,
technically, mentally... But now, I don't think we're that far behind
and the only goal for us will be to go out on the court and try to play the
best we can."
"If we do play our best tennis, from first to last, which is not easy,
then maybe we have a little chance," he continued. "The Russians will
decide how high they can put the bar."
The French have a perfect 2-0 record in Fed Cup Finals to date, but they
are tied 3-3 in previous Fed Cup encounters with Russia (that includes
two meeting with what was then the USSR). It was France who ended Russia's
hopes of reaching the Fed Cup Final last year, upsetting the hosts 3-2 in
the semifinals in Moscow's Olympic Stadium.
A year ago, Mary Pierce dealt the fatal blow to Russia, and it was thought
that she might be fit enough to play the final. However French captain Guy
Forget says that, "there's very little chance that she'll play. Her shoulder
is still not one hundred per cent." He praised her decision to come to Moscow
and support her teammates, even though she had, Forget says, only an outside
chance of playing based on form and fitness.
The draw for the 2004 Fed Cup Final, for which new nominations can be made,
is at 13:00 on Friday, with play on Saturday and Sunday.
For now, the French team will be relaxing, and celebrating in a local
restaurant this evening. Fortunately, they have Russian-speaking Golovin
on hand to help them translate the menu.
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