U.S. Underdogs Against France in Fed Cup Final

Belgium's Els Callens gave her country a glimmer of hope by upsetting American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 7-6(5) Thursday in the Fed Cup semifinals, but Lisa Raymond clinched the tie for the U.S. with a 6-2, 6-1 pounding of Elke Clijsters, little sister of world No. 2 Kim Clijsters. World No. 1 junior Kirsten Flipkens was scheduled to play Raymond, but Clijsters was inserted in the line-up after Flipkens complained of an ongoing hip injury.

"I haven't played a (Fed Cup) singles match since 1999, so it felt really good to play two solid matches here," said Raymond, who afterwards won in the dead-rubber doubles with partner Martina Navratilova. "It's pretty amazing to be on a court with her. It's one thing to represent your country, but to do it with Martina is something else."

Navratilova ran her combined Fed Cup singles and doubles record to 38-0 after the victory, her first Fed Cup match since 1995.

"Yes, it's true, I have never lost in singles or doubles and in the old days we only played three matches instead of five," Navratilova said. "So by winning both of my matches, singles and doubles, I would guarantee my team of a win."

In the other semifinal, France advanced when Amelie Mauresmo outlasted Anastasia Myskina 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, then Mary Pierce followed with another three-set win over 19-year-old Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

"At the end of the match, Guy (Forget, French captain) told me to be more aggressive and just go for my shots," said Pierce, who hasn't seen many big match wins over the last couple years. "For some reason I wasn't aggressive enough and he reminded me of that."

This will be the first time the top two nations have squared off in a Fed Cup final, which will be contested Nov. 22-23. The U.S. lead the head-to-head 10-0 against France, but current U.S. starters Raymond and Shaughnessy struggle against Frenchwomen Mauresmo and Pierce.

"It's going to be extremely tough for us, because they're playing so well right now," said U.S. captain Billie Jean King. "We're definitely the underdogs, and we need to figure out a way to get our players to play the best matches of their lives, basically."

FED CUP FINAL TEAM HEAD-TO-HEAD
The U.S. leads France 10-0 in their World Group head-to-head encounters, though the two nations have never before met in the final:

1995 USA d. FRA 3-2 in USA on carpet (SF)
1994 USA d. FRA 3-0 in GER on clay (SF)
1992 USA d. FRA 2-1 in GER on clay (QF)
1987 USA d. FRA 3-0 in CAN on hardcourt (2nd rd.)
1979 USA d. FRA 3-0 in ESP on clay (QF)
1978 USA d. FRA 3-0 in AUS on grass (QF)
1977 USA d. FRA 3-0 in GBR on grass (QF)
1974 USA d. FRA 3-0 in ITA on clay (QF)
1968 USA d. FRA 2-1 in FRA on clay (QF)
1966 USA d. FRA 2-1 in ITA on clay (QF)

FED CUP FINAL INDIVIDUAL HEAD-TO-HEAD
The French hold a distinct head-to-head advantage over the American team:

Amelie MAURESMO (FRA) leads Lisa RAYMOND (USA) 4-0
2000 Moscow Carpet (I) 16 Amelie MAURESMO 6-2 6-4
2001 Amelia Island Clay (O) 16 Amelie MAURESMO 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3
2001 Charleston Clay (O) 16 Amelie MAURESMO 7-5 7-5
2003 Philadelphia Hard (I) QF Amelie MAURESMO 6-3 6-3

Amelie MAURESMO (FRA) leads Meghann SHAUGHNESSY (USA) 1-0
2003 Stuttgart Hard (I) 32 Amelie MAURESMO 7-6(4) 6-2

Mary PIERCE (FRA) leads Lisa RAYMOND (USA) 2-1
2000 U.S. Open Hard (O) 32 Mary PIERCE 6-4 7-6
2003 Wimbledon Grass (O) 32 Mary PIERCE 4-6 6-3 7-5
2003 San Diego Hard (O) 16 Lisa RAYMOND 6-7(5) 4-6

Mary PIERCE (FRA) vs. Meghann SHAUGHNESSY (USA)
No meetings.

FED CUP FINAL DRAW
Saturday, November 22 -- Lisa Raymond vs. Amelie Mauresmo, Meghann Shaughnessy vs. Mary Pierce
Sunday, November 23 -- Meghann Shaughnessy vs. Amelie Mauresmo, Lisa Raymond vs. Mary Pierce, Martina Navratilova/Lisa Raymond vs. Emilie Loit/Mary Pierce

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Lleyton Hewitt says his mental vacation is over, and he will be getting back to the business of regaining the No. 1 ranking, which he held in 2001-2002, during next year's campaign: "At the moment I'm playing as well as I've ever played, so I think the way that I beat (Roger) Federer in the Davis Cup semifinal there's no doubt that gives me confidence that I can get No. 1 back," Hewitt told The Age. "I have no doubt that I can beat anyone in the world on any given day, and it's just got to, I guess, all come together...As soon as the Davis Cup final is over, and hopefully we've won, then the next thought's going to be trying to prepare myself as well as possible for the Australian Open."...Lleyton Hewitt fired a shot back at Spain in the latest round of pre-Davis Cup smack: after Carlos Moya questioned Hewitt's tournament toughness after being of the tour for a few months, Hewitt alluded to speculation that Feliciano Lopez is being considered for singles with Juan Carlos Ferrero, saying "We don't even know if (Moya's) playing yet."...Alex Corretja revealed he apologized to Lleyton Hewitt for calling the Australian "arrogant" before the 2000 Davis Cup final: "Fortunately, we had a talk already last year at the US Open. I said, 'Listen, I do apologize to you if I said something that bothers you. Probably I should have come straight to you and said it'. He accepted and since that day I believe we are in good conditions to talk and we say hello to each other and I think it's pretty fine." Fine until Australia thrashes you 5-0 next week...Aussie doubles specialist Todd Woodbridge also fired a shot at the Spanish, saying they've blundered in waiting so long to come to Australia to practice, instead staying in Spain and practicing on their grasscourt: "I would have been down here. If the match court plays like this they're pretty hard and fast already, and they're not going to be hard and fast in Barcelona, and I think that plays to our advantage that they're not here earlier."...Yes, there still is an ATP senior tour. The Delta Tour of Champions kicked off its second-to-last event of the year yesterday in Monte Carlo with John McEnroe, Thomas Muster, Petr Korda and Yannick Noah, Omar Camporese, Henri Leconte, Mats Wilander and Mansour Bahrami in two four-man round robin groups. Last year Korda stole the year-end No. 1 from McEnroe, ending a four-year No. 1 run by the American. McEnroe, the current No. 1 point leader, says that won't happen again: "Last year I came in a little over-confident and I was a little burned-out. I played too much tennis beforehand, but this time I'm ready. The good news is that the work has paid off, and I feel like I've stalled Father Time. I'm still playing well and I rarely feel tired. Even when I do there's nothing like sucking it up and trying to pull out a win." Muster replaced the injury-prone tax-dodging wife-cheating bastard-child-bearing Swiss-living Boris Becker, who twisted an ankle while preparing for the event. Results on day one were Korda d. Noah, Wilander d. Bahrami, Leconte d. McEnroe, and Muster d. Camporese..If you've got a lot of extra cash lying around in your Internet betting account, put a chunk on France punishing the U.S. in the Fed Cup final...Hey ITF, move the Fed Cup doubles to the third match instead of the fifth so it comes into play during these ties...Andre Agassi says playing the Superset exhibition fits into his schedule (and wallet): "Portland's a great city, and I'm always looking for excuses to be there. As long as the dimensions of the court are the same, I'm looking forward to it. It's a win-win for me from any perspective. I can keep the schedule going, and I enjoy being up there. There's no downside to it."...On Thursday the Williams sisters were selling french fries at a Manhattan restaurant to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities as part of World Children's Day. Venus says she will be ready to go come January: "I feel great. It just took time and rest to get better." Serena told the AP she is also almost 100%: "I'm feeling stronger. It's getting better. I'll play some exhibitions in Australia before the Open."...Andy Roddick's charity event in Boca Raton, Florida, is this Sunday, featuring Chris Evert, Jim Courier, Aaron Krickstein, Patrick McEnroe and current pros Mardy Fish and Sebastien Grosjean...Next week John McEnroe will start working with some of the top British juniors in London, accepting a wad of cash in return for putting a little life into their program: "To put it bluntly, I want to put some fire in their bellies," McEnroe told BBC Radio Five Live. "Hopefully this will be the start of an association, not just a superficial thing for a couple of days."...16-year-old Maria Sharapova joins a IMG modeling stable that includes supermodels Gisele Bundchen, Tyra Banks, Carolyn Murphy, Shalom Harlow and Heidi Klum...For the U.S.-Belgian Fed Cup matches is Moscow, the crowd filled around 3,500 of the 12,000 seats at Olympic Stadium...Anastasia Myskina frequently let loose with the some loud profanity in Russian during her match with Mary Pierce at the Fed Cup...American women took up half of the Top 10 in the year-end WTA Rankings, but only four more among the Top 100.