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Russia Captures Second Straight Fed Cup Title
| 2005. Szeptember 23. 14:27 |
Dementieva takes care of it
PARIS - It came down to the wire, but the Russians were tough as nails when it mattered most, clinching the 2005 Fed Cup title in the deciding doubles rubber in front of a capacity crowd at Roland Garros on Sunday.
Russia and France split their singles rubbers on Day One, and history repeated itself on Day Two prior to Russia''''s victory in the thrilling doubles climax on Sunday evening.
With the two nations tied at 1-1 after Saturday''''s action, Sunday''''s first singles rubber went to Russia''''s Elena Dementieva, who continued her recent mastery over Amelie Mauresmo with a 64 46 62 victory. The two players seemed nervous at the beginning of the match, with the first seven games going against the server. Dementieva was the first to settle into her rhythm, gaining the first hold of the match to go up 5-3 en route to closing out the opening set. Mauresmo fought back in the second, surging ahead 3-0, and although Dementieva managed to even things up at 3-all, the Frenchwoman gained another break in the 10th game to take the match to a deciding third. In the final set Dementieva was too tough, winning the first three games as well as the last three en route to the two-hour, 42-minute victory.
"I had nothing to lose," said Dementieva, who has now defeated Mauresmo three straight times, including in the 2004 Roland Garros quarterfinals. "I was tired in that third set, but getting 3-0 up gave me the confidence that I could win the match. I think it was one of the best matches I’ve played this year."
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In the second singles rubber of the day, Mary Pierce staged an inspired comeback in front of an adoring home crowd, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to outlast Anastasia Myskina 46 64 62. The opening set took a crucial turn in the seventh game, with Myskina gaining the first break of the match and then holding serve twice in a row to put the set away. The 24-year-old Russian built a seemingly insurmountable two-break lead in the second set with some smart, consistent play, but as the crowd support grew, an inspired Pierce began finding the range on her powerful serve and groundstrokes, reeling off 11 of the next 13 games in closing out the one-hour, 53-minute comeback victory.
For the second straight year, the battle between Russia and France for the Fed Cup title would be decided in the doubles rubber, and for the second straight year, the Russians would rise to the occasion. The last-minute pairing of Dementieva and Dinara Safina held off another inspired French comeback attempt, downing Mauresmo and Pierce 64 16 63 in fading light after nearly two hours. The Russian pair seemed in control of the match after winning the first set and opening the second by breaking serve, but the French duo stormed back, losing a total of just six points in winning the next six games to take the Fed Cup final to a climactic final set. The two teams were neck-and-neck through most of the third, but the drama was to mount in the eighth game with Pierce serving at 3-4. The Frenchwomen went out to a 30-0 lead but then lost six straight points to give the Russians the break and a 5-3, 30-0 lead with Safina serving. Three points later, Mauresmo sent a forehand long to end the match and the 2005 Fed Cup championship.
"I am not the heroine, the team won, not any individual," said Dementieva, who went undefeated in the tie. "Although Anastasia lost today, if she hadn''''t beaten Venus Williams in the semifinal, we may not have been here. It''''s my third Fed Cup Final but the first time that I have won so I am really happy."
"I am proud of my performance this weekend," said Pierce after the doubles rubber. "We played some high-level tennis. The public were great. It''''s just a pity that we didn''''t win."
Russia captured its first Fed Cup title in 2004, led by Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova. This year, the Russians notched two impressive wins to return to the final, defeating Italy 4-1 in the first round and the United States (led by Venus Williams) 4-1 in the semifinals. France has captured the Fed Cup twice previously, in 1997 and in 2003. This year, France defeated Austria 4-1 in the first round and Spain 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Russia and France have now faced each other eight times in Fed Cup play, with Russia holding a 5-3 edge. Six of those encounters have come in the last seven years, including in the final the last two years.
The first two singles rubbers of the 2005 Fed Cup Final took place on Saturday, with Dementieva giving Russia an early lead by downing Pierce in three sets but Mauresmo evening things up with a victory over Myskina.
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Dementieva defeated Pierce 76(1) 26 61, avenging her US Open semifinal defeat. The two players traded breaks of serve twice en route to an opening-set tie-break, where it was Dementieva who stepped it up, racing out to a 5-0 lead and dropping just one more point in clinching the 54-minute first set. Pierce fought back, winning four straight games from 2-all in the second set to take the match to a third, but in the end Dementieva was too tough, storming out to a 5-0 final-set lead en route to completing the two-hour, 15-minute victory.
In Saturday''''s second match, Mauresmo struggled early but eventually took control against Myskina, winning 64 62. After the two players held serve through the first five games of the match, Mauresmo broke for 4-2, beginning a string of breaks which eventually gave her the first set. The pair began the second set trading breaks en route to 2-all, but again it was Mauresmo who came through, winning the last four games in a row.
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