THE TennisReporters.net NEWSLETTER: SUNDAY, novemBER 28, No. 106

Myskina carries Russia to first Fed Cup title
Golovin stars but France falls 3-2, losing doubles

By Sandra Harwitt
Special to TennisReporters.net

Lumfoto

Anastasia Myskina: The "queenpin" takes three points to defeat France.

FROM THE FED CUP FINAL IN MOSCOW – The weight of delivering Russia to its first Fed Cup title fell on the slight shoulders of Anastasia Myskina, the reigning Roland Garros champion, who did not disappoint a frenzied crowd as she led Russia past France for a 3-2 victory.

"All my friends are around me here and I'm definitely more happy here right now [than when I won the French Open]," said Myskina, who went 3-0 in the final. "Here it is for the team and for my country."

Myskina teamed up with Vera Zvonareva to take the deciding match, beating Emilie Loit and Marion Bartoli in the doubles 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Chief among the cheering crowd was Russia's most prominent tennis fan, former President Boris Yeltsin, who enthusiastically pumped his fist and kept a nervous watch over the proceedings. The French team – despite being the underrated defending champions to a Russian team that boasted Myskina and US Open titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova – were not planning on going away without a battle. But in the end, Yeltsin was able to celebrate, climbing over a court barrier to hug and kiss the team that finally brought Russia a Fed Cup victory in the country's fifth appearance in a final.

The Fed Cup win ended a brilliant season for Russian women's tennis – three Grand Slam champions in Myskina, Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. Other Russian achievements this year included Sharapova taking the year-end WTA Championships, four players in the Top 10, seven in the Top 20, and, now, the Fed Cup trophy.

It was Myskina who was brilliant from start to finish this weekend, doing her part and then pitching in to do even more than she bargained for in the original agreement. She capably won both of her singles matches in the final: first bypassing a determined Tatiana Golovin 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), then on Sunday beating Nathalie Dechy, France's top player on the team, 6-3, 6-4.

KUtZY CRAMPS UNDER FINAL PRESSURE
But all did not go well with Kuznetsova, who was too emotional and nervous during the competition and still can't temper her game when her go-for-it-all style isn't clicking. Kuznetsova, who was making her Fed Cup debut this year, didn't bring home one point in the final: losing to Dechy 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 8-6 on Saturday and then squandering Russia's 2-1 lead on Sunday by falling miserably to the 16-year-old Golovin 6-4, 6-1.

That left Russian Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev at 2-2 with only the doubles to go and a tough decision: to play his appointed doubles team of Elena Likhovtseva and Vera Zvonereva seemed questionable at best, or to throw in Kuznetsova (who regularly teams with Likhovsteva on tour), which could be suicidal after the way she unraveled in the singles. So Tarpischev decided on going with his team kingpin – or should that be queenpin – by sending Myskina in for the kill.

To be honest, Myskina is not an accompplished doubles player – she and Zvonerva almost looked lost out on the court against the French pairing of Loit and Bartoli, who have a better understanding of the tandem game. But Myskina's power, determination and experience worked well enough for the Russians to lay to the title.
The first set was a lucky win by the Russians, decided by about six unforced errors by the French team. Even the second set was no smooth passage with seven of the 12 games featuring service breaks.

"In the end, the best team won," said French Fed Cup Captain Guy Forget. "To beat Russia we needed to play three or four extraordinary matches and we did two. And, at one stage in the doubles, I felt it could happen. But in the end, the logical thing happened. But I don't think people thought we could get to 2-2 and then 6-6 in the tiebreaker of the first set of the doubles. I'm proud of all the girls because they were passionate about this final. We could've won the doubles and that makes it painful because we were that close."

Tarpischev, who led a Russian Davis Cup squad to victory over France in 2002, said," If you had to measure joy, I can tell you definitely that I feel more relieved and more fatigued from this Fed Cup win."

The loss marks the first time that a French Fed Cup squad that reached a final did not score the win; they captured the title in 1997 with Yannick Noah as captain, and then last year under the tutelage of Forget.

Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA

Russian-born teenager Tatiana Golovin is the surprise star for France.

GOLOVIN GIVES FED CUP A GREAT GO
When 16-year-old teen Golovin was first named to the French team, she wasn't meant to have much responsibility past practicing and taking it all in. With the withdrawal of Amelie Mauresmo, France's top player, who decided against participating in the final, and veteran Mary Pierce still hampered by a shoulder injury, Golovin was brought off the bench to make her Fed Cup singles debut.
Without a doubt, not many players have made as much of their singles debut in Fed Cup as Golovin has done, responsibly putting her team at 2-2 in the final to make the fifth rubber a live match.
On Sunday, with the score at 2-1 for Russia after Myskina controlled Dechy in the first match, Golovin secured France's chances by bullying Kuznetsova. "I'm just really, really excited," said Golovin, smiling broadly after beating her first ever Top-5 player. "I can beat these kinds of players. I felt really happy and proud. Little by little I am getting experience. I play for these kinds of matches."

Kuznetsova was visibly downtrodden after the loss which left her with a 0-2 win-loss record in the final against France. "In a match like that it is only two, three points that can make the difference," said a clearly unhappy Kuznetsova. "I think she really surpassed herself and she played beyond her capabilities."

For the confident Golovin, however, there was no thought that she was playing out of her league. She seems to absorb lessons from previous matches quickly and carefully observed Kuznetsova when she lost to Dechy the day before, to prepare for the match. "I'm hitting the ball well and I think I'm improving with every match I play," Golovin said. "I think I played a pretty good match against Myskina yesterday and I was taking my chances today."