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Russia, France, Spain & US Advance in Fed Cup

Three of this year's Fed Cup semifinalist have been determined after Sunday's second day of action around the globe. Defending champion Russia won the last four rubbers to defeat Italy, 4-1, while France also advanced with a comfortable 4-1 tally.

Meanwhile, Spain edged Argentina for a spot in the final four, winning a decisive doubles match to advance, 3-2. The United States also advanced, defeating Belgium behind the stellar play of Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams.

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The Two Elenas Deliver a Semifinal Berth for Russia

Wins from world No. 5 Elena Dementieva and No. 14 Elena Bovina put defending champion Russia into the semifinals of the 2005 Fed Cup where they will host, likely in Moscow, the winner of the USA versus Belgium tie taking place this weekend in Florida. It was a day of missed opportunities for Italy and overcoming adversity for Russia but, in the end, two of the seemingly endless contingent of top Russian players came through for their country, defeating Italy 4-1.

Over the same weekend as the semifinals, Italy will compete in the Play-off round to see if they will play in World Group I or World Group II in the 2006 Fed Cup competition.

Dementieva won both of her singles matches, defeating Tathiana Garbin and Francesca Schiavone respectively, even though she was broken five times in each match. Her two-hour-35-minute victory over Schiavone today was even more remarkable because the Russian saved four match points in the second set before decimating her opponent 6-0 in the third.

Bovina, a replacement for Dinara Safina who lost to Schiavone on Saturday, had more trouble than she expected with Maria-Elena Camerin, breaking the Italian in the final game to win 63 36 62 in two hours. Camerin saved two match points before falling to Bovina and delighted the largely Italian crowd with her courage during the match.

Russia has a juggernaut of a team to call upon for the semifinals. French Open champion Anastasia Myskina had been nominated for the tie but withdrew due to injury earlier this week and surely is expected to compete in July. Russia’s other two Grand Slam champions, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, have indicated that they will be available for selection this year and, with the women who won this first round tie also in the running, Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev will have some difficult choices to make.

His top player this week, Dementieva, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, saving four match points in the second set of her match to defeat Schiavone 46 76(2) 60 and give Russia a 2-1 lead in the tie. Having dropped her serve five times against Garbin in the second singles, Dementieva continued to serve poorly throughout the match but benefited when Schiavone made critical errors on important points to give her the advantage. During a toilet break between the second and third sets, the body language of a deflated Schiavone foretold her collapse in the third set.

“Francesca played very well. It certainly was one of her best matches,” said Dementieva after the victory. “But the match turned after the four match points as I tried to resist her pressure. I was never really afraid of losing, especially during the match points, but she was very aggressive and very creative and kept changing her style of play which made it difficult for me.”

For the second day in a row, weather conditions in the Adriatic port city of Brindisi were near perfect for this first round Fed Cup tie. Sunday was a touch warmer than Saturday with the sunny skies and light breezes that are typical of this southern Italian city in April and, as the stadium at the Circolo Tennis Brindisi began to fill, there was a holiday atmosphere as the local fans hoped to see their team upset the Russians and advance to the semifinals.

After Schiavone’s loss, as if the weather were Italian, the skies over Brindisi became overcast and the temperature dropped a few degrees but improved during the match between Bovina and Camerin.

Bovina had it all her way in the opening set against Camerin 63 but Camerin charged back in the second and brought the crowd alive but their joy waned as she was unable to sustain the momentum against the higher ranked Bovina. Victory came at the two-hour mark in the match on Camerin’s serve. The plucky Italian saved two match points before losing her serve and the match to Bovina who had a subdued but very happy celebration with her teammates on the side of the court.

“I was never worried about winning, even if I lost concentration in the third set,” said Bovina. “And, in the third set, I had no doubt.”

“There was a lot of pressure on me to win,” continued Bovina, “but there would have been more if Elena had not won her match. It was great and we look forward to playing at home in front of our fans in July.”

In the final rubber, under cold and windy conditions, Vera Douchevina and Safina defeated Garbin and Mara Santangelo 63 75 to complete Russia’s 4-1 victory over Italy and put them on course to defend their 2004 Fed Cup title. While the fans in Brindisi no doubt hoped for a win for their country, they were treated to nearly eight hours of compelling tennis on Sunday and the Italian women will have made many friends among the public with their fighting spirit and good nature.

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USA looks ahead to Russia

After clinching this first round tie with Belgium at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, the United States squad took the traditional trip around the court, waving the American flag and thanking the crowd for their support. But there is still a lot of work to do before these players can truly celebrate.

“We’re taking this as ‘business as usual,’” world number-one Lindsay Davenport said Saturday, “and looking forward to some more ties this year.”

The US, the most decorated nation in this event, has not claimed the Fed Cup crown in five years. A drought that brought three top 10 players to southeast Florida this weekend. Davenport had not played a tie since 2002, and the Williams sisters came knowing one would have to sit out singles action (Serena ended up sitting out because of an ankle injury).

Davenport began the weekend with a resounding victory over 392nd-ranked Eveline Vanhyfte and then clinched the tie with a 6-4 6-2 decision over Els Callens in Sunday’s first reverse singles rubber. In between, Venus Williams thumped Callens 6-2 6-2. Davenport and Corina Morariu finished off the shutout with a 6-1 6-2 doubles win over Kirsten Flipkens and Vanhyfte.

“Of all the Fed Cup teams I’ve ever played on,” said US captain Zina Garrison, “the chemistry of this team was just amazing. Everybody got along. Everybody had a sense of calmness, but businesslike.”

As for Belgium, most of the talk this week was about who was not in southeast Florida. Paul-Pierre de Keghel, president of the Royal Belgian Tennis Federation, apologized more than once for the absence of Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters, and went as far as declaring an easy US victory at Friday’s draw.

“The way the USTA have prepared, both on the player side and here from the organization, it’s a missed opportunity for world tennis to not have had that possible battle,” Belgian captain Carl Maes said Saturday. “It’s a shame.”

This weekend, thus, was about the future. Without Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters, the Belgians were left with Callens, a doubles specialist, a 19-year-old with a bad back and two ladies playing their first Fed Cup matches.

Vanhyfte, one of the two rookies, tried her best in the initial rubber, but never pushed Davenport, losing 6-0 6-2 in just 39 minutes.

“Eveline brought to the table whatever she had to offer,” Maes said after the Davenport match. “I’m really proud of her because I think she didn’t collapse under the pressure, under the circumstances.”

The US now heads to the semifinals, which will be somewhere in Russia, and probably on clay, the week after Wimbledon. Unlike this weekend, that semifinal tie will be a marquee match-up with the possibility of seven current Top 10 players being on hand.

Davenport says she is committed to all three rounds this year, while the Williams sisters sound ready to go, but hesitate at anything concrete.

“Looking at the next match, it will most likely be in clay,” Venus Williams said. “I think it would help Lindsay out a lot if Serena and I are there.

“I have good records against all of the players from Russia,” she continued. “So it’s all good for me. I’m just ready to play.”

The US has never lost to Russia in four previous Fed Cup ties, the last of which came at the 1999 final.

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Spain Stops Argentine Comeback

There's clearly something about playing in Jerez de la Frontera that brings out the dramatic aspect of the Spanish Fed Cup team.

The Spanish squad held off a determined comeback from visiting Argentina to advance to the 2005 Fed Cup semifinals by a 3-2 score, clinching the tie at their third opportunity after Argentine wins in both reverse singles rubbers.

Last July, the hosts rallied from 0-2 down to advance to the Fed Cup semifinals with a dramatic 3-2 win in Jerez over visiting Belgium, and today, facing a reverse fate, held on despite a stiff challenge from the Argentines.

"I didn't breathe easily until the last point," said victorious Spanish coach Miguel Margets. "We're really proud because we're among the four best teams in the world, and that was our goal coming in."

Spain will travel next to play France, also a victor this weekend, defeating host Austria 4-1 in Portschach.

Anabel Medina Garrigues and Nuria Llagostera Vives provided the victorious third point and dashed Argentine hopes with a 64 64 doubles victory over Gisela Dulko and Maria-Emilia Salerni on a sunny, breezy day in Andalucia.

"I've never played doubles in competition with Nuria before," said Medina Garrigues. "Just one set in practice. But she has a good game for doubles and adapts easily to new partners, it seems."

The Argentines trailed 2-0 after Saturday's opening singles rubbers, but world no. 39 Dulko tacked Argentina's first point on the board with a resounding 60 63 thrashing of late substitute Marta Marrero, who stepped in for her slightly-injured (right knee) compatriot Medina Garrigues.

Argentine captain Ricardo Rivera switched his lineup for Sunday's second reverse singles, inserting world no. 83 Mariana Diaz-Oliva in place of Salerni. Diaz-Oliva was seeking to keep alive Argentina's hopes against Spain's Llagostera Vives, who was fresh off a three-set win Saturday over Dulko. Diaz-Oliva rose to the occasion, winning a tiebreaker after narrowly averting a first-set collapse from 5-2 up, and went on to win 76(6) 64 to even the tie at two-all.

"It´s tough," said Diaz-Oliva after the conclusion of the doubles. "When we were two-all I thought we might win, and it's really frustrating because we were so close."

After saving two set points in the first-set tiebreak, Llagostera Vives double-faulted to give the Argentine a third chance to close out the set, which she did with a forehand volley winner. Diaz-Oliva closed out the match on her third match point with a forehand winner, keeping alive Argentine hopes of reaching their third Fed Cup semifinal since 1986.

Dulko atoned for a subpar performance in Saturday's singles opener, blasting groundstroke winners close to the sidelines that her opponent had little chance of returning. She took the first set in just 30 minutes with her second ace, went up 5-1 in the second and staved off a brief rally from Marrero to take the match in one hour, 13 minutes.

"It's more painful to lose when you're playing for your country, your captain and your teammates," said Dulko. "They played good, returned very well and there's not much more to say than that."

Heading into the doubles, the pressure was squarely on the hosts but it was not to be for the visitors, as the Spanish doubles tandem put pressure on the Argentines from the outset, breaking Dulko the first four times she served and also breaking Salerni twice.

With Llagostera Vives serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, the Spanish pair quickly held three match points. The Argentines erased the first two, but on the third, Dulko was handcuffed on a volley and Spain was through to the semifinals, with a chance to win their fifth Fed Cup title since 1993.

"It will be tough against France," Margets said. "They've got a powerful team and play well together. But we're very happy to have reached the final four."

The Argentines will find out after the draw on 3rd May who they will be playing in July to keep their spot in World Group 1.

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