Pierce Falters, Mauresmo Levels in Fed Cup Final Against Russia

"I had some problems at first but I felt better in the second set," said Pierce, who played with a taped right thigh after also struggling with injuries at the US Open. "It's difficult with the time difference and the change of surface but it's the same for Elena."

Dementieva's camp's plan was to run Pierce on the red clay and test her troubled thigh.

"She played well in the first two sets," Dementieva said. "I just continued to play the same game in the third set and remain aggressive. The plan was to run Pierce all over the court as we thought that I was the stronger player physically."

France's Amelie Mauresmo followed by restoring order for the home team, convincingly defeating last year's struggling French Open champion Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 6-2.

Both players dropped serve twice in the first set, then in the second Mauresmo broke in the sixth game, and finished by breaking the Russian in the last game for the win.

"She gave me a lot of points and made lots of mistakes," Mauresmo said.

Rather than Mauresmo gagging at the site of numerous past chokes it was Myskina tightening up with the pressure of defending the Fed Cup championship.

"That's the worst I've ever played. What can you do when you play like that?" Myskina said. "I could not control my tennis. I'm defending my country. It's a different situation. You're not playing for yourself. There's so many people behind you and you think you're disappointing them."

Mauresmo will face Dementieva in the first singles Sunday, then French captain Georges Goven will make the difficult decision whether to risk playing the injured Pierce again.

"I'm ready to play but it's the captain's choice," Pierce said. "If he feels another player can do a better job, fine."