MOSCOW, 28 November 2004 — World No. 3 Anastasia Myskina put Russia level at 1-1 with holders France in the Fed Cup finals here yesterday with a two-set win over Tatiana Golovin.
Myskina’s 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) defeat of her Russian-born opponent canceled out US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova’s stunning loss to Nathalie Dechy in yesterday’s opening rubber.
Dechy, the French team’s leader in the absence of Amelie Mauresmo, fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 8-6 in a match watched by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
The final concludes today with two singles rubbers and a doubles.
Dechy struggled in the first set against the powerful Kuznetsova who served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
But after failing to seize her chance Kuznetsova began to commit a host of unforced errors allowing Dechy back into the game and she leveled when taking the second set in the tie break.
Dechy let one chance to win slip when serving for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set but she made no mistake when the second opportunity arose at 7-6.
“They (Russia) are the favorites and they have the higher rankings but we felt we still had a chance to win this one so we are going for it,” said Dechy. “I knew Svetlana was going to go for her shots, she is very powerful and I knew she would play hard. I knew what to expect so it wasn’t hard for me to keep my rhythm,” she added.
Kuznetsova was upset at the loss.
“I was not thinking positively or what I have to correct but it is also tough to do during the game,” said the Russian.
“I’m very upset to have lost this match but I will be working hard in the reverse singles to cut out many of the mistakes.”
