Star-powerless Fed Cup Begins Wednesday in Moscow

Posted on November 19, 2003

With both the U.S. and Belgium fielding their "B" squads in the Fed Cup semifinals this week, the winner will have their hands full in the final against either France or Russia. The Fed Cup semis will be played Nov. 19-20 in Moscow, with the big story the boycotting of the event by top Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, who say the event's scheduling is too late in the year and cuts into their off-season. The finals will be played three days after the semis on Nov. 22-23.

"Obviously we should beat Belgium," said U.S. doubles specialist Martina Navratilova. "On paper, we're huge favorites. But in Fed Cup, strange things can happen. At least we don't have to deal with the Belgian crowd. We will be playing in sort of a neutral crowd. I'm sure the Belgians, they're pretty vocal, and they'll having some people waving the black, yellow and red flags of theirs. We should be okay, but you never know...In the finals, probably we'd be better off playing the Russians. I think they're more beatable than the French. And that match is a total toss-up with Mauresmo and Pierce. Pierce is sort of a wildcard. Mauresmo also, as you saw (at the WTA Championships), she played brilliant tennis against Henin and couldn't put the ball in the court against Clijsters."

Many players have voiced a dislike for the choice of Moscow as the venue, and Navratilova is not too fond of the court surface.

"It's played on a surface that is extremely dangerous in that it's very sticky," Navratilova said, saying Clijsters was wise to pull from the event. "As you know, Kim (Clijsters) slides a lot into her shots. She does these splits. She would not be able to do that. It would be such an adjustment for her to play on that surface. We had a couple sprained ankles on it (earlier in the year at Moscow). My back was sore. I just played a long doubles match. My back, my knee, my Achilles hurt...But for a singles player, I tell you, I would have my reservations playing on that surface, especially when it's at the end of the year, you're tired, you just want to unwind and relax. You know, sooner or later you have to say enough is enough. That's what Kim had to do."

While Navratilova is making the sacrifice to travel to Russia (not one of her favorite cities, she says) at the end of the year, she can see skipping the tie from Clijsters' perspective.

"I think Kim is smart," Navratilova said. "I think Kim played too much tennis this year. If she played Fed Cup, I would say, 'You're absolutely crazy.' I mean, it's too bad for Belgium, but Belgium has to be lucky that she is who she is. You know, you have to look at it in a positive way and look what those two women have done for the country of Belgium. You can't have it all."

While the U.S. looks to roll over the destitute Belgian squad, the Russia-France semifinal looks to be a toss-up. Here is a look at the two-day schedule and the four squads competing in the semifinals:

Wednesday, November 19
Belgium vs. United States -- Els Callens vs. Lisa Raymond, Kirsten Flipkens vs. Meghann Shaughnessy
Russia vs. France -- Vera Zvonareva vs. Amelie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina vs. Mary Pierce

Thursday, November 20
Belgium vs. United States -- Els Callens vs. Meghann Shaughnessy, Kirsten Flipkens vs. Lisa Raymond, Elke Clijsters/Caroline Maes vs. Martina Navratilova/Lisa Raymond
Russia vs. France -- Anastasia Myskina vs. Amelie Mauresmo, Vera Zvonareva vs. Mary Pierce, Elena Dementieva/Nadia Petrova vs. Emilie Loit/Mary Pierce

FED CUP SEMIFINAL TEAMS AT A GLANCE

Belgium
Team: Els Callens, Caroline Maes, Elke Clijsters, Kirsten Flipkens, Captain: Mr. Ivo Van Aken
Fed Cup World Group Record: 13-18
Best Result: Winner (2001)
Players Singles History: E.Clijsters 0-0, Callens 6-2, Flipkens 0-2

United States
Team: Meghann Shaughnessy, Lisa Raymond, Alexandra Stevenson, Martina Navratilova, Captain: Ms. Billie Jean King
Fed Cup World Group Record: 66-13
Best Result: Winner 11 times (1976-82, '86, '89, '90, '00)
Players Singles History: Rubin 6-2, Shaughnessy 2-1, Raymond 0-2

France
Team: Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, Emilie Loit, Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, Captain: Mr. Guy Forget
Fed Cup World Group Record: 29-21
Best Result: Winner (1997)
Players Singles History: Mauresmo 13-4, Pierce 11-8

Russia
Team: Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, Captain: Mr. Shamil Tarpischev
Fed Cup World Group Record: 26-17
Best Result: Runner-up 3 times (1988, '90, '01)
Players Singles History: Dementieva 11-3, Myskina 4-1

FED CUP SEMIFINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Russia leads France 3-2
2001 RUS d. FRA 2-1 in Spain on clay
2000 FRA d. RUS 3-0 in Russia on carpet
1999 RUS d. FRA 3-2 in Russia on carpet
1992 FRA d. CIS 3-0 in Germany on clay
1985 URS d. FRA 2-1 in Japan on hardcourt

U.S. leads Belgium 2-0
2000 USA d. BEL 2-1 in U.S. on carpet
1990 USA d. BEL 3-0 in U.S. on hardcourt

ATP 2003 TOP 10 YEAR-END MATCH WIN LEADERS
1. Roger Federer 78-17 (7 titles)
2. Andy Roddick 72-19 (6)
3. Rainer Schuettler 71-30 (2)
4. Juan Carlos Ferrero 67-19 (4)
5. Guillermo Coria 60-16 (5)
6. Carlos Moya 57-22 (3)
7. Paradorn Srichaphan 50-28 (2)
8. Jiri Novak 49-27 (1)
9. Andre Agassi 47-10 (4)
10. David Nalbandian 42-20 (0)

ATP YEAR-END No. 1s
Andy Roddick is the 12th player and sixth American in the history of the ATP Rankings to finish No. 1:

2003 Andy Roddick (USA)
2002-01 Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
2000 Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil)
1999 Andre Agassi (USA)
1998-1993 Pete Sampras (USA)
1992 Jim Courier (USA)
1991-1990 Stefan Edberg (Sweden)
1989, '87-86-85 Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia)
1988 Mats Wilander (Sweden)
1984-81 John McEnroe (USA)
1979-80 Bjorn Borg (Sweden)
1978-74 Jimmy Connors (USA)
1973 Ilie Nastase (Romania)

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Gustavo Kuerten was awarded the Brazilian Cross of Merit (A Cruz do Merito), the highest a Brazilian can be awarded, in Sao Paulo last week. The former world No. 1 received the honor for his contributions to tennis. "I feel very honored to receive this award at such a young age. I think this is one of the biggest honors I could ever get as a Brazilian citizen and it is a reward for everything that I have shown on court as a player and off court as a person. I am aware of what I represent to the country, of the responsibilities that I have as an idol." Kuerten was presented with the award by his mother, Alice Kuerten, who placed the star set with diamonds and rubies around Guga's neck...Congratulations go to Vladimir Voltchkov, who married Olga Miheeva on Nov. 1...Hey Yevgeny Kafelnikov, we know you're done, but where's the announcement? Rumor true that you're going to upstage the Fed Cup by announcing your retirement in Moscow during the women's event?...Roger Federer earned $4 million in prize money for 2003, ahead of Andy Roddick's paltry $3.2 million, someone slide A-Rod a loan...Even with some rain in the final, how about some props for the Masters Cup returning outdoors for the first time since the 1970s? Nice change from the dreary year-end run of the indoor season...The Tennis-X staff wishes Lleyton Hewitt a speedy recovery from his brain injury that forced him to pull out of all his events following the US Open and almost drop out of the Top 20...Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic will make her first appearance at the Australian Open since 2001, organizers announced Monday. Dokic lost first round in 2001, then moved out of Australia, then her wacky dad Damir accused Aussie Open officials of rigging the draw against her...What a dilemma for the 2004 World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, with Germany not qualifying rankings-wise as one of the top seven teams. Usually Germany has no problem with giving themselves the wildcard for the No. 8 slot, but what do they do this time, ranked No. 9 behind the No. 8 Czech Republic (last year's runners-up)?...ESPN commentator MaliVai Washington is high on Roger Federer (who isn't?): "When comparing Federer's game to his peers -- including Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Nalbandian and Guillermo Coria -- Federer has the full package while each of those players possesses a glaring deficiency somewhere in his game."...From CNN/SI's Jon Wertheim: "Note to ESPN: When the crawl at the bottom of the screen contains the final score of the very same tape-delayed tennis match you're currently airing, it kind of ruins the suspense for the viewers."...Did You Know?: Players at the Masters Cup receive an additional $90,000 if they complete all three of their round robin matches, referred to by some as the "Agassi Addendum" for the American who numerous times over his career pulled from the event after losing his first two matches in the round robin.