MOSCOW, 20 November 2003 — Anastasia Myskina battled back from match point down to prevent a disastrous first day for Russia as the Fed Cup favorites tied France 1-1 in their semifinal yesterday.
The United States had an expected 2-0 lead over Belgium, but only after Meghann Shaughnessy also survived a match point in a grueling marathon against unheralded Kirsten Flipkens. “Sometimes you have to win ugly,” US captain Billie Jean King said.
Myskina evened the best-of-five tie against France on a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 win over two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce, after Russia’s gamble on Vera Zvonareva backfired when Amelie Mauresmo dispatched her 6-2, 6-2. “My hands are still shaking.” said Myskina, who got a bear hug and a kiss from former Russian President Boris Yeltsin after the match. “I wanted to win so much and I was so nervous.”
Zvonareva, the lowest-ranked player on the formidable Russian team at No. 13, was chosen by captain Shamil Tarpischev because he believed she’d be in better shape than No. 7 Myskina and No. 8 Elena Dementieva, who played in the season-ending WTA Championships last week in Los Angeles.
But Mauresmo, who reached the Championships final, kept Zvonareva on the run and trapped her in the corners in an hourlong match.
Myskina, after losing the first set by faltering twice on serve, rallied from match point down in the second to break for 5-5 against Pierce, who was making her first Fed Cup appearance in six years. The Russian won the next game — pumping her fist amid a din of support from a Moscow crowd — and then prevailed 7-2 in the tiebreaker.
Myskina and Pierce traded breaks in the third set for the Russian to serve for the match at 5-4. But Myskina netted an easy backhand and Pierce evened it at 5-5 — only to fall behind love-40 and surrender on serve again to Myskina, who held on to win.
Earlier, Lisa Raymond cruised past Els Callens 6-2, 6-1, and Shaughnessy outlasted Flipkens 6-7, 7-6, 9-7 in a 3-hour, 12-minute battle.
World No. 17 Shaughnessy reached set point at 6-5 in the first, but sent a forehand long, and soon found herself down 6-1 in the tiebreaker, eventually losing it 7-4 to Flipkens, the world’s top-ranked junior at age 17.
Shaughnessy, seven years older, opened the second set with a break, but Flipkens broke back to even it at 4-4. In another tiebreaker, Flipkens overcame a 0-2 deficit and went ahead 7-6, but the American survived match point and went on to win 10-8 with an ace.
A weary-looking Flipkens took two timeouts early in the third set to have her legs massaged, but she took a 4-3 lead. Shaughnessy broke back to even the match at 5-5, sending it into a harrowing series of service wins before Flipkens netted a backhand at 30-40 in the 16th game.
“She found a way with her heart and her guts to win that match,” King said of Shaughnessy.
Raymond got the second-string Americans off to a good start in the best-of-five series against a Belgian team that’s missing its top players, world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne and No. 2 Kim Clijsters.
Facing a service break in the fifth game, Raymond powered a forehand past Callens and then won two quick points, returning to her seat with a big grin and a 4-1 lead. Playing in her first ever Fed Cup singles, Raymond later dropped a backhand just over the net to take the first set.
In the second, Callens outlasted Raymond in a second game that went to deuce five times, but couldn’t manage another game.
The United States, with Martina Navratilova scheduled to play doubles alongside Raymond today after the reverse singles, is seeking its 18th Fed Cup title.
Belgium won the Fed Cup in 2001 behind Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters, and France was the 1997 champion, while Russia has played in four finals without a win.
