Russians, French Move Toward Final Meeting at Fed Cup

Posted on November 25, 2004

Both Russia and France jumped out to 2-0 leads in their respective Fed Cup semifinals Wednesday, with Russia crushing Austria and the French second-stringers having an easy time with Spain.

Inspired by the support of Boris Yeltsin, Svetlana Kuznetsova led off for Russia with a 6-1, 6-1 pounding of Austrian Yvonne Meusberger, with the Austrians clearly missing their injured No. 1 Barbara Schett.

"It was pretty straight match but I wanted to play a little bit better," said Kuznetsova, apparently ruing the loss of two games. "I am enjoying playing (in Moscow). They expect from me much more (after winning the US Open) -- I want to show them my game, always try my best."

The second singles match got real ugly for a Fed Cup semifinal, with Anastasia Myskina ripping Patricia Wartusch 6-0, 6-0.

"I was just thinking to win every point," Myskina said, "Because once you relax you can lose one, two games then maybe the whole match. Tomorrow they are going to fight fore sure and we are going to fight back."

How's that Anastasia, is Thomas Muster going to put on a wig and play for Austria Thursday?

Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin and Nathalie Dechy gave defending champs France a 2-0 lead in their semi against Spain, with the 16-year-old Golovin making her singles debut with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, and Dechy dispatching of Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-2, 6-4.

"Of course I expected the girls to win," said captain Guy Forget, who was unable to talk world No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo onto the court, making France a big underdog in the likely final against Russia. "I'm happy because these are the kinds of matches where you're under pressure. On paper their rankings are better. For Tatiana, it was her first live match. At the start, they were very tight, but I'm happy the way they played and came out with wins."

Scheduled for Thursday are Myskina vs. Meusberger and Kuznetsova vs. Wartusch, and Dechy vs. Funky Cold and Hot Pants vs. Sanchez Lorenzo.

A Russia vs. France final would be a rematch of last year's semifinals, where the Mauresmo-led French upset the Russians in Moscow. The final will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

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