21 Nov 2003 - Olympic Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Alex Nicholas
Raymond to Open Against Mauresmo in 2003 Fed Cup Final
The draw for the 2003 Fed Cup Final between USA and France has been conducted
in Moscow’s Olympic Stadium and is as follows:
Lisa Raymond (USA) v Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)
Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) v Mary Pierce (FRA)
Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) v Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)
Lisa Raymond (USA) v Mary Pierce (FRA)
Martina Navratilova/Lisa Raymond (USA) v Emilie Loit/Mary Pierce (FRA)
This will be the 11th occasion that the USA has met France in Fed Cup
competition, and Billie Jean King’s squad will go into this encounter
with the confidence-boosting knowledge that an American team has never
lost to France in the Fed Cup. The US leads the series 10-0, with their
last encounter taking place eight years ago in the 1995 World Group
semifinal. Then, the US defeated France 3-2 in America before falling
to Spain 3-2 in the Final.
This year, however, there is a definite sense around Moscow’s Olympic
Stadium – the venue for this season-ending finale – that France could
well clinch their first victory over the 17-time champions.
French captain Guy Forget has selected a particularly strong team for
the final – the same line-up that defeated Russia 3-2 in the semfinals
– and should Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo play as well as they did
against the Russians, they will definitely prove tough opposition for
the Americans.
Captain Guy Forget commented after the draw: “On paper we’re favourites,
but then again so were the Russians, but we proved them wrong. I think
every match is going to be difficult but if they can play as well as
they did in the previous matches, I think they should have a chance.
But it will be hard.”
In the first singles rubbers, world No. 28 Lisa Raymond will open proceedings
as she takes on French No. 1 and world No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo. The two have
met before at tour level on four previous occasions, with Mauresmo currently
leading the series 4-0. The second singles rubber will be contested between
Meghann Shaughnessy and Mary Pierce. Surprisingly, this will be the first
head-to-head encounter between the two.
While Raymond provided by far the best performance for the US team in their
4-1 victory over Belgium, she will face a completely different opponent in
Amelie Mauresmo. The 24-year-old Frenchwoman played outstanding tennis in
her victories over Vera Zvonareva and Anastasia Myskina and will certainly
be a tough test for the 30-year-old Pennsylvanian.
Pierce could also prove very tricky for Shaughnessy, having demonstrated in
her semifinal outings that she has regained full fitness and is back playing
some of her best tennis. She has bumped her ranking back up to No. 33 in the
world this year and in the latter half of the season has secured a number of
good wins on tour (including a round-of-16 finish at the US Open and two
semifinal showings at Stuttgart and Quebec City).
Raymond and Shaughnessy, however, have had more time to recover from their
semifinal matches than the French, and although Shaughnessy did play two
long matches against Belgium, she was by no means pushed as hard as Mauresmo
and Pierce were against Russia. Perhaps the Americans will have just that
little extra in the tank to keep them going and guide their country to an
18th Fed Cup title.
Billie Jean King admitted that her team were definitely the underdogs coming
into the final, but hinted that the spectators could well be in for a very
interesting contest: “I think they (France) are overwhelmingly favourites,”
she said. “But it could be very interesting because of the styles of play…
Lisa being an all-court serve-volley player with a good slice backhand. We
are going to have to raise our games at least a level or two for us to win.”
Matches commence on Saturday 22 November at 1300 local time (1000 GMT) with
the two opening singles rubbers. The reverse singles rubbers and doubles
rubber will take place on Sunday 23 November at 1300 local time (1000 GMT).
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