US out of Fed Cup World Group for first time By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
MONDAY, APRIL 18 - Even
though Rafael Nadal looked tired for part of the week in Monte Carlo, he
still managed to win his seventh straight title with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat
of David Ferrer. Neither man played his best on the day, but Nadal was
more ambitious and self-assured on the big points, while Ferrer was
fairy erratic. Still only 24, Nadal remarkably won his 19th ATP World
Tour Masters 1000 crown, two ahead of Roger Federer and Andre Agassi
"Rafa is incredible on clay. I mean, he's everywhere at the same time.
He's the best player on clay in history," said Ferrer of his compatriot,
who won his 30th title on dirt, the same number that the great Bjorn
Borg won. Two other former Roland Garros titlists are head of him as
Guillermo Vilas is first with 45 clay-court titles and Thomas Muster
owns 40. Nadal said he would play Barcelona next week and he’s also
scheduled to play Madrid and Rome prior to Roland Garros. "I'm happy
about my calendar, if I'm wrong, let's see," he said. The positive thing
is I didn't play perfectly and I won."
US FED CUP WOES
Things can't get too much worse for the U.S. Fed Cup team than their
performance this weekend. The squad lost 5-0 to Germany, sending the U.S.
out of the World Group for the first time in history.
With Venus Williams
there for support only due to injury, the Americans took only one set in
five matches.
Melanie Oudin got
the brunt of the punishment as she had to play on Saturday against Julia
Goerges to put the U.S. down 2-0. Then, she went back on court in the first
match Sunday and got flattened by Andrea Petkovic in the match that sent the
once-proud stalwart of tennis supremacy down into the minor leagues.
Vera Zvonareva won two matches for Russia and lead her team back intro
the final when she bested Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-2. Zvonareva also took
down Sarah Errani in day one, while Kuznetsova overcame Vinci too. “I
think this is one of the biggest emotions of my life. I haven’t played
for my country for two years and I really wanted to give this match to
my team,” said Zvonareva. Italy was without its top two players in
Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta.
Russia will face the Czech Republic in the final which overcame Belgium
3-2 when Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova took down Kirsten
Flipkens/Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4. Petra Kvitova won the marquee match
between the team’s two top players she stopped Yanina Wickmayer 5-7,
6-4, 6-2, but then Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens upended Barbora Zahlavova
Strycova 6-2, 6-3 to send it to a fifth and decisive match. Belgium was
without its top player in Kim Clijsters but the Czechs were without
their No. 1 player in Lucie Safarova.
The Ukraine, Germany, Spain and Serbia won playoff ties over Australia,
the U.S., France and the Slovak Republic Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic became
Sunday’s hero after Ana Ivanovic was forced to retire with an abdominal
injury down 6-4, 3-3 to Dominika Cibulkova. Then Jankovic overcame
Daniela Hantuchova 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and teamed with 17-year-old Aleksandra
Krunic to best Hantuchova/Magdalena Rybarikova 2-6, 7-5, 9-7.
