19 Nov 2003 - Olympic Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Chris Bowers - RUS v FRA
In-form Mauresmo Too Hot for Zvonareva to Handle
It seems odd that in the 40-year history of the Fed Cup France should only
have been in the final once before, but Amelie Mauresmo took the French a
third of the way towards a second final with an emphatic win over Vera
Zvonareva.
Mauresmo won 62 62 in a minute over an hour, in a match which seemed to make
something of a mystery of Russian captain Shamil Tarpishev’s decision to
select the 19-year-old Muscovite for the opening day’s singles.
Tarpishev, whose four team members are all in the world’s top 13, picked
his lowest-ranked player to take on France’s world No 4. It was a bold
gamble, given that Mauresmo played herself into form by winning the title
in Philadelphia and reaching the final of the WTA Tour Championships in Los
Angeles two weeks ago, where she lost to Kim Clijsters.
“I was very consistent, very proud of the way I played today,” Mauresmo
said. “What I did in Los Angeles and Philadelphia was very important for
my confidence.”
That form continued in the Olympic Stadium, in particular the way Mauresmo’s
backhand became increasingly lethal as the match wore on. Zvonareva battled
bravely from the baseline, only to see the Frenchwoman’s crosscourt backhand
open up the court for her on numerous occasions.
It was a backhand combination which allowed Mauresmo to win this match of two
near-identical sets. Both had stood at 2-2, both then saw Mauresmo step up
her level to break twice. And on her first match point she drove a backhand
down the line and stepped in to play a crisp backhand volley to end the
contest – the clenched fist that followed it confirmed what the win meant
to her.
Mauresmo admitted to being mildly shocked that she was playing Zvonareva
rather than the eighth-ranked Dementieva. “When we heard the name yesterday
it was a little bit surprising, but maybe Dementieva is a little tired
because of the season she has had. But I just played my game, just
concentrated on what I had to do.”
France’s only previous final was in 1997, when they beat the Dutch in Den
Bosch. “Our stats are not very good and we really would love to play another
final,” said Mauresmo. And there’s a good omen for the French – the last
time Mary Pierce played representative tennis was in the 1997 final, and she
returned to play the second singles against Russia’s Anastasia Myskina.
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