MOSCOW, 25 November 2004 — France and Russia both secured two singles victories apiece in their Fed Cup semifinals here yesterday against Spain and Austria to edge closer to a final showdown.
Victories by Nathalie Dechy and Russia-born Tatiana Golovin helped France to a 2-0 lead over Spain.
World No. 21 Dechy beat Maria Antonia Sanchez 6-2, 6-4 and Golovin had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Anabel Medina to put France firmly in the driving seat with the reverse singles and doubles to come early today.
It was a morale-boosting performance by the French who were without Amelie Mauresmo, who opted not to compete, and Mary Pierce, a member of two Fed Cup winning teams, who is suffering from a shoulder injury but could still play in the final if France progress.
“The match was good,” said Dechy. “It was my first match, and it was good to open the competition this way.
“Sometimes for different reasons there are injuries and you don’t have your (top) players. But a good team can bring out other players and we have a good team to do that.”
French team captain Guy Forget said: “I’m happy because these are the kinds of matches where you’re under pressure. At the start, they were very tight, but I’m happy the way they played and came out with wins.”
In the other semifinal, Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open champion, made sure the host nation got off to a roaring start, with a crushing 6-1, 6-1 win over Yvonne Meusburger of Austria.
French Open winner Anastasia Myskina followed that up with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Patricia Wartusch.
“It can’t be a bad season when you win a Grand Slam, but we have to now play the most important tournament of the year, this one, the Fed Cup, and we want to win it,” Kuznetsova said after her 47-minute win over the world’s No. 173.
