ITF Sep 13-14 2008 Fed Cup Fed Cup Final: Russia 4 at Spain 0 Club de Campo Villa de Madrid Madrid, Spain Google photo-map Live Scores - in popup window pics: Yahoo! - Fed Cup gallery mp3 audio: interviews - Radio Player brackets & results - news Stadium Capacity: 4000 Day 1: 1400 hrs (1200 hrs GMT) Day 2: 1200 hrs (1000 hrs GMT) Spain News & Links # 7 d144 Svetlana Kuznetsova # 9 d40 Vera Zvonareva # 58 d68 Ekaterina Makarova # 61 d21 Elena Vesnina # 29 d7 Anabel Medina Garrigues # 49 d329 Carla Suarez Navarro # 87 d8 Virginia Ruano Pascual # 94 d32 Nuria Llagostera Vives

Other Fed Cup pages: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Madrid: #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova 5'8½" 161lb RH 2H-BH Madrid: Kuznetsova, Vesnina, Makarova, Zvonareva 4th Russian Fed Cup Title

    On Sunday in Madrid, in the third "rubber" of the 2008 Fed Cup Final, 23-year-old # 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (who trains in Barcelona, Spain and resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco), defeated 26-year-old # 29 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 (photo shown).

    Because Svetlana and teammate Vera Zvonareva both won their singles matches on Saturday, the win clinched the best of five, and gave 2004, 2005 & 2007 Fed Cup champs Russia their 4th Fed Cup title in 5 years.

    Svetlana has not lost a Fed Cup match since 2004. Svetlana said: "It's amazing to win another Fed Cup for my team. It's been a tough year with a lot of ups and downs." ITF story

    Spain upset Italy in Naples (in February) and China in Beijing (in April) to reach the final. Anabel said: "I played better today. I was more consistent; I made fewer mistakes and rallied well. I was more relaxed and felt less pressure.
    "We should be very satisfied to have made the final. Nobody would have thought that at the start of the year. We did all we could and no-one should have any regrets."

    The second reverse singles match was not played. In the dead doubles "rubber," Elena Vesnina & Ekaterina Makarova defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives & Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-1, making the final score 4-0 for the Russkis.

Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews, Sun, Sep 14:
Svetlana Kuznetsova d Anabel Medina Garrigues | Spanish Captain Miguel Margets

Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews, Sat, Sep 13:
Vera Zvonareva d Anabel Medina Garrigues | Svetlana Kuznetsova d Carla Suarez Navarro | Spain Captain Miguel Margets

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group Final: #=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

Russia 4 at Spain 0     outdoor: red clay     ball: Dunlop Fort All Court stats Saturday, Sep 13, 2008 1200 GMT 1 #9 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-3, 6-4 Vera and Anabel driving forehand and backhand     Vera said: "It's tough to play the first match, and I'm happy to get through this one. I lost a little concentration in the middle of the second set and committed a few unforced errors while she came up with some good shots, but I was really happy that I could raise my level again." ITF story     Anabel said: "[Vera] played very well. I couldn't find any consistency, which is key against a Top 10 player. My game was very up-and-down. I am always very nervous in the first match of the tie and today was the same. I found some consistency in the second set but could not maintain it." 2 #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #49 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 6-3, 6-1 Svetlana and Carla driving forehands, and teammates congratulating Svetlana after match point     Svetlana said: "The key to the match was not to beat myself. I started to rush and try to play too well and she came back but then I started to take my time again and got back on top. I get so much passion and energy when playing Fed Cup, I don't think about how I have been playing [in the past months] and just do my best." ITF story     Carla said: "[Svetlana] was a very difficult opponent, she was forcing to play very deep in the court." Sunday, Sep 14, 2008 1000 GMT: 3 #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #29 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Svetlana's service toss, Anabel following a backhand drive, and Sveta following a forehand 4 not played 5 d21 Elena Vesnina & d68 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d d32 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP & d329 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-1 Svetlana Svetlana, Vera, Ekaterina, Elena   Spain: #29 d7 Anabel Medina Garrigues #49 d329 Carla Suarez Navarro #87 d8 Virginia Ruano Pascual #94 d32 Nuria Llagostera Vives Captain: Miguel Margets Lobato   Russia: #7 d144 Svetlana Kuznetsova #9 d40 Vera Zvonareva #58 d68 Ekaterina Makarova #61 d21 Elena Vesnina Captain: Shamil Tarpishchev   Anabel & Vera at the draw on Friday

    (Sep 3, 2008) Fed Cup final team members have been announced by the ITF (see the "scoreboard" area below). Dinara Safina of Russia has stated that she will not be playing due to exhuastion, Maria Sharapova is still recovering from a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon, and Anna Chakvetadze has been dissatisfied with her own quality of play this year.

Fed Cup Rules Overview     Fed Cup "ties" consist of 5 matches ("rubbers"), 4 singles and 1 doubles. Each country's # 1 singles player plays the other country's # 2 singles player the first day (the order of play decided by lot), and on the 2nd day they swap and the # 1s play each other, followed by the # 2s, followed by the doubles match. The teams are run by non-playing "captains" who are usually highly-regarded coaches and/or former players. The 3rd and 4th players on each team, at the captain's discretion, might not play at all, or might play doubles, or might substitute for an injured or struggling # 1 or # 2 player.     Only teams in World Group are playing for the Cup itself. Teams in World Group II are playing to get into the World Group (formerly known as World Group I) next year; teams in "Zonal Groups" are playing to get into World Group II next year.     Fed Cup rules state that player changes for the day's opening singles match must be made by the captains with the referee one hour prior to the start of play. Player changes for the second match of the day must be made by ten minutes after the conclusion of the first match. On Sunday, changes in the doubles line-up can be made up to 15 minutes after the end of the second singles match.

Fed Cup Structure Overview     89 nations are competing in Fed Cup play at 3 levels. 2005 was the first year that the Fed Cup used a a 3-tiered system similar to the Davis Cup system. 8 teams compete at the top level, called World Group (formerly called World Group I), and 8 more teams at the 2nd level, called World Group II. The remaining 73 teams are placed in Zonal Groups I, II, and III. Only the 8 teams in World Group are competing to win the Fed Cup in any given year; the teams in the lower 2 levels are competing to move up into World Group.     The 4 1st round (quarterfinal) winners in World Group each year will remain in World Group the following year. The four 1st round losers in World Group each year will play off against the 4 winners from World Group II, to determine the other 4 entries in World Group for the following year; the 4 losers of these playoffs are in World Group II the following year. Similarly, the 4 losers from World Group II each year will playoff against 4 Zonal Group winners to determine the other 4 members of World Group II the following year.     All these playoffs are held at the same time as the World Group semifinals, which are the weekend following Wimbledon.     So, essentially the teams play their 1st "tie" to try to advance, and if they lose, they play a 2nd "tie" which they must win to avoid being demoted. full explanation of Fed Cup structure     The remaining 73 nations playing Fed Cup tennis will play in "Zonal Groups" this year, trying to get into World Group II in the future.     There are three Zonal Groups, which also have levels, called groups, that the teams must work their way up through. The Europe/Africa Zone has 3 levels, while the Americas Zone and the Asia/Oceania Zone each have 2 levels.     Thus a team playing in Group III of the Europe/Africa Zone is trying to get into E/A Group II next year, E/A Group I the following year, World Group II the year after that, then to get into World Group I, and then, if they kept winning each year, can play in World Group I for the Fed Cup.

WTA Apr 26-27 2008 Fed Cup SFs Fed Cup World Group SFs: Live Scores - in popup window USA 2 at Russia 3   Moscow Spain 4 at China 1   Beijing World Group Playoffs: Live Scores - in popup window Italy 3 at Ukraine 2 France 4 at Japan 1 Germany 2 at Argentina 3 Czech Republic 3 at Israel 2 World Group II Playoffs: Colombia 0 at Belgium 5 Switzerland 3 at Austria 2 Uzbekistan 0 at Slovakia 5 Serbia 3 at Croatia 2 brackets & results - news pics: Yahoo! - Fed Cup gallery mp3 audio: interviews     "Radio Player" Beijing, China forecast

Other Fed Cup pages: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Beijing: #76 Nuria Llagostera Vives 5' 1½" 117lb RH 2H-BH Moscow: #14 Vera Zvonareva 5' 7¾" 130½lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Beijing, in the 3rd "rubber" of the Fed Cup semifinal "tie" between Spain and China, 27-year-old # 76 Nuria Llagostera Vives from Barcelona, Spain, defeated 24-year-old # 68 Shuai Peng from Tian Jin, China, 6-4, 6-4. The win gave Spain an insurmountable 3-0 lead over China, and clinched a place for the Spaniards in the Fed Cup final, September 13-14 (Nuria is shown celebrating after match point).

    Nuria said: "I’m feeling unbelievable now; I’m very excited about playing in my first [Fed Cup] final. [The Spanish team] always had a very good atmosphere, and we’re all very good friends. We have fun together and I think that’s very important." ITF story

    Jie Zheng won her now academic match against Carla Suarez Navarro, 7-6(5), 6-3, then Nuria and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won the doubles "rubber" over Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun, 6-2, 6-1, making the final score Spain 4, China 1.

    Meanwhile in Moscow, in the 3rd "rubber" of the semifinal "tie" between the USA and Russia, a hometown girl, 23-year-old # 14 Vera Zvonareva, defeated 19-year-old # 115 Vania King from Long Beach, California, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. This put the Russkis ahead 3-0, and meant that they will face Spain in the Fed Cup final (Vera is also shown after match point).

    Vera said: "I haven't played for my country for a couple of years. It’s a pleasure for me to be back in the team. All the girls are really good, the coaches are great and I’m just happy to be part of the best team in the world." ITF story

    The USA saved some face in the academic "rubbers;" Ahsha Rolle defeated Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-4, and Vania teamed with former South African Liezel Huber to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova & Elena Vesnina in the doubles, 7-6(3), 6-4.
    Next year the USA team will have a new captain, Mary Joe Fernandez, as Zina Garrison is retiring from that position.

    2004, 2005 & 2007 Fed Cup champs Russia will face Spain in the Fed Cup final, September 13-14 (the weekend following the US Open).
    Russia will be heavily favored; Spain will have the choice of ground.

  Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews:

Sun, Apr 27: Vera Zvonareva - Vania King - Ahsha Rolle - Liezel Huber & Vania King - Cap. Garrison
    Nuria LLagostera Vives - Shuai Peng - Cap. Margets

Sat, Apr 26: Anna Chakvetadze - Svetlana Kuznetsova - Vania King - Ahsha Rolle - Cap. Garrison
    Nuria Llagostera Vives - Carla Suarez Navarro - Jie Zheng - Shuai Peng - Cap. Margets

Apr 25 draw: Svetlana Kuznetsova - Anna Chakvetadze - Vania King - Liezel Huber & Vania King - Cap. Garrison
    Jie Zheng - Shuai Peng - Nuria Llagostera Vives - Arantxa Parra Santonja & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez - Cap. Jiang - Cap. Margets

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group Semifinals: #=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

USA 2 at Russia 3  Luzhniki Small Sports Arena, Moscow, Russia indoor: red clay stats, .pdf Saturday, Apr 26, 2008 1000 GMT ITF story 1 #7 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #115 Vania King USA 6-4, 7-5 Vania about to slice a backhand, Anna running one down, and after winning a point 2 #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #145 Ahsha Rolle USA 6-2, 6-1 Ahsha reaching for a forehand, Svetlana driving a backhand, and after match point Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 0900 GMT: ITF story 3 #14 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #115 Vania King USA 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Vera's service toss, Vania driving a backhand, and Vera chasing down a forehand 4 #145 Ahsha Rolle USA d #44 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-3 6-4 5 cdr44 Liezel Huber & Vania King USA d cdr90 Elena Vesnina & Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 7-6(3), 6-4 United States: #115 d43 Vania King #145 d383 Ahsha Rolle #249 d431 Madison Brengle #NR d1 Liezel Huber Captain: Zina Garrison - Coach: Mary Joe Fernandez Russia: #4 d60 Svetlana Kuznetsova #7 d79 Anna Chakvetadze #14 d131 Vera Zvonareva replaced Dinara Safina #44 d30 Elena Vesnina Captain: Shamil Tarpishev

Spain 4 at China 1     Beijing International Tennis Center, Beijing, China indoor: hard (Rebound Ace) stats, .pdf Saturday, Apr 26, 2008 0600 GMT ITF story 1 *#132 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d #68 Shuai Peng CHN 6-3, 7-6(4) Carla driving a forehand, Shuai's 2-handed backhand drive, and Carla's 1-hander 2 #76 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #206 Jie Zheng CHN 6-3, 6-4 Nuria driving a forehand, and Jie & Nuria driving backhands Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 0600 GMT: ITF story 3 *#76 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #68 Shuai Peng CHN 6-4, 6-4 Nuria's service toss, and Shuai & Nuria driving backhands 4 *#206 Jie Zheng CHN d #132 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 7-6(5), 6-3 5 *cdr154 Nuria Llagostera Vives & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP d cdr49 Tiantian Sun & Shuai Peng CHN Spain: #76 d80 Nuria Llagostera Vives #132 d161 Carla Suarez Navarro #151 d74 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez #342 d67 Arantxa Parra Santonja Captain: Miguel Margets Lobato China: #42 d14 Zi Yan #68 d25 Shuai Peng #198 d24 Tiantian Sun #206 (former #27, rank down due to injury inactivity) d26 Jie Zheng Captain: Hong-Wei Jiang Apr 26-27 World Group Playoffs: Czech Republic 3 at Israel 2     France 4 at Japan 1     Italy 3 at Ukraine 2     Germany 2 at Argentina 3 Winners will be placed in the 2009 World Group along with Russia, China, Spain, and USA. Losers will be relegated to World Group II in 2009. Gisela Dulko of Argentina after defeating Sabine Lisicki of Germany on Saturday, Kveta Peschke & Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during and after winning the deciding doubles over Israel on Sunday (Iveta had already defeated Shahar Peer on Sunday), and Betina Jozami of Argentina after defeating Angelique Kerber of Germany on Sunday Apr 26-27 World Group II Playoffs: Serbia 3 at Croatia 2     Switzerland 3 at Austria 2     Uzbekistan 0 at Slovakia 5     Colombia 0 at Belgium 5 Winners will be placed in the 2009 World Group II along with World Group Playoff losers. Losers will be relegated to Zone Group I in 2009. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia while defeating Nika Ozgovic of Croatia on Saturday, Jelena's teammate Ana Ivanovic while defeating Nika on Sunday, and Emmanuelle Gagliardi, Stephanie Voegele & Patty Schnyder of Switzerland on Sunday after Stephanie had defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria, and Emmanuelle & Patty won the deciding doubles

    (April 16, 2008 revised) Team nominations for the 2008 Fed Cup semifinals (and World Group & World Group II playoffs) have been posted. The team the USTA is sending to Moscow includes none of the top 10 American players, and no player ranked in the top 100 in WTA singles. # 7 Venus Williams, and # 8 Serena Williams had indicated earlier that they would not play (as had # 5 Maria Sharapova on the Russian side). Lindsay Davenport, now the 3rd ranked US player, who had indicated she would play, is now not on the list either (possibly due to low back trouble); Meghann Shaughnessy has a left knee injury, and Ashley Harkleroad is recovering from surgery. Thus the US team will consist of # 112 Vania King, # 138 Ahsha Rolle, # 253 Madison Brengle, and former South African Liezel Huber (doubles co-# 1, but unranked at singles). This motley crew will face off against # 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, # 6 Anna Chakvetadze, # 16 Dinara Safina (later replaced by # 14 Vera Zvonareva), and # 44 Elena Vesnina.

    The situation on the other side of the semis, Spain at China, is similar, but not so extreme. Spain is sending # 73 Nuria Llagostera Vives, # 125 Carla Suarez Navarro, # 150 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and # 331 Arantxa Parra Santonja to Beijing, where they will do battle with former # 27 Jie Zheng (her current ranking down to # 204 due to injury last year), # 42 Zi Yan, # 65 Shuai Peng, and # 259 Tiantian Sun. With # 33 Anabel Medina Garrigues, # 78 Virginia Ruano Pascual (a former doubles # 1), and # 119 Lourdes Dominguez Lino not playing for Spain, it is very likely that this year's Fed Cup final will consist of China vs Russia. ITF story with nominations for the 8 WG & WGII playoff teams

    (March 31, 2008) # 5 Maria Sharapova, # 7 Venus Williams, and # 8 Serena Williams will not play in the USA at Russia Fed Cup semifinals April 26-27 in Moscow. Russian Captain Shamil Tarpischev stated that it was arranged from the beginning for Maria to play in the quarterfinals against Israel, and # 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova to play in the semis against the US. Venus has told reporters that her schedule is too demanding for a trip to Moscow at that time.
    The US team will include former # 1 Lindsay Davenport, and recently-upwardly-mobile # 73 Ashley Harkleroad. Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina, and Nadia Petrova or Elena Vesnina are likely to join Svetlana on the Russki side. BBC story

WTA Feb 2-3 2008 Fed Cup QFs Fed Cup World Group QFs (Round 1): Live Scores - in popup window Russia 4 Israel 1 Germany 1 USA 4 France 2 China 3 Spain 3 Italy 2 World Group II Playoffs: Live Scores - in popup window Belgium 2 Ukraine 3 Croatia 1 Japan 4 Slovak Rep 2 Czech Rep 3 Austria 1 Argentina 4 Zonal Groups: Asia/Oceania Americas Europe/Africa brackets-results - news pics: Yahoo! - Fed Cup mp3 audio: interviews - "Player"

Other Fed Cup pages: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Naples: #30 Anabel Medina Garrigues 5' 6½" 130lb RH 2H-BH Ramat Hasharon: #5 Maria Sharapova 6' 2" 130lb RH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in Ramat Hasharon, Israel (near Tel Aviv), this year's Australian Open champion, 20-year-old # 5 Maria Sharapova of Russia (with residences in California and in Bradenton, Florida, home of the Bollettieri Academy) crushed, killed and destroyed 20-year-old # 17 Shahar Peer from Maccabim, Israel, 6-1, 6-1 (photo shown).

    It was Maria's second match in Federation Cup competition. Maria said: "It’s great win, although again it is strange to win a match without actually feeling like you won. What I mean is that we still need one point in order to really feel relieved." ITF match report

    The additional point was provided by Maria's teammate, # 7 Anna Chakvetadze from Moscow, who defeated # 85 Tzipora Obziler of Israel 6-4, 6-2, giving the Russkis an insurmountable 3-1 lead. Dinara Safina and Elena Vesnina then won the doubles for Russia, making the final 4-1. 2004, 2005 & 2007 Fed Cup champs Russia will face the USA in the Fed Cup semifinals April 26-27.

    Anna said: "Today was tough because the fans were very loud, but I’m very happy to have won and I hope to play semifinals at home in Moscow."

    Meanwhile in Naples, Italy, 25-year-old # 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues from Valencia, Spain, clinched a place in the Fed Cup semis for Spain by defeating 27-year-old # 23 Francesca Schiavone of Italy (residence: London, England), 6-4, 6-1 (photo shown).

    Anabel's win clinched the "tie" for the Spaniards 3-0, though Sara Errani and Tathiana Garbin of Italy saved face by winning the 4th singles and the doubles "rubbers," making the final 3-2. Spain will face China in the Fed Cup semifinals April 26-27.
    Anabel said: "We are very happy and surprised and now we want to celebrate. I think the Italian players were nervous and this was a good thing for us." ITF match report

    Francesca said: "It’s been a tough weekend and I’m sorry for my team, but I did my best. Llagostera and Medina played it point by point, and I say congratulations to them."

  Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews:

Sun-Mon, Feb 3-4: Maria Sharapova - Anna Chakvetadze - Lindsay Davenport - Ashley Harkleroad - Jie Zheng - Virginie Razzano
    Anabel Medina Garrigues - Francesca Schiavone

Sat, Feb 2: Maria Sharapova - Shahar Peer - Sabine Lisicki - Ashley Harkleroad
    Shuai Peng - Nuria Llagostera Vives - Francesca Schiavone - Anabel Medina Garrigues

Jan 31 draw: Maria Sharapova - Shahar Peer

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group 1 Round 1 (Quarterfinals): #=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

Russia 4 at Israel 1  Israel Tennis Center - Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon, Israel outdoor: hard (Acrylic) stats, .pdf Saturday, Feb 2, 2008 0900 GMT ITF story 1 *#17 Shahar Peer ISR d #16 Dinara Safina RUS 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 Shahar after match point     Shahar said: "The crowd was absolutely amazing, and I’m glad I was able to give Israel the first point. It’s too bad Tzipi was not able to beat Maria, but its anybody's tie now and tomorrow will be very exciting." 2 #5 Maria Sharapova RUS d #85 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-0, 6-4 Maria lining up a forehand, Tzipora about to swat one, Maria lightly tapping a backhand, and after winning a point     It was Maria's first match in Fed Cup competition. Maria said: "It was very weird to come on court being down one love. Usually when I play a match both players start the match at the same level, so this was different but I’m glad it’s over and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s match versus Shahar." Sunday, Feb 3, 2008 0900 GMT: ITF story 3 #5 Maria Sharapova RUS d #17 Shahar Peer ISR 6-1, 6-1 Maria serving, Shahar lining up a forehand, Maria following a backhand, and after winning a point 4 #7 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #85 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-4, 6-2 Anna driving a forehand, and after winning a point 5 d15 Dinara Safina & d49 Elena Vesnina RUS d d16 Shahar Peer & d721 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 Russia: #5 dNR Maria Sharapova #7 d79 Anna Chakvetadze #16 d15 Dinara Safina #53 d49 Elena Vesnina Captain: Shamil Tarpishev Israel: #17 d16 Shahar Peer #85 d721 Tzipora Obziler #727 d718 Keren Shlomo #736 d731 Julia Glushko Captain: Oded Jacob

Germany 1 at USA 4     La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, CA, USA outdoor: hard stats, .pdf Saturday, Feb 2, 2008 2000 GMT ITF story 1 *#130 Sabine Lisicki GER d #44 Lindsay Davenport USA 6-1, 7-5 Sabine driving a forehand, Lindsay's backhand, and Sabine reporting to Cap'n Barbara Rittner after match point     Ranked #195 going into the Australian Open 2 weeks ago, Sabine won 3 qualifying matches, then defeated #17 Dinara Safina in the 1st round, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2, and #104 Mariya Koryttseva in the 2nd round, 6-1, 7-5, before losing to #62 Caroline Wozniacki in the 3rd round, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.     18-year-old Sabine has been training at the Bollettieri Academy recently, where she has become familiar with tough opposition. Sabine said: "It’s just a match as any other. So I’m going into a match wanting to win. I’m not just going on the court to play. I went on the court and I wanted to win. I didn’t want to go and lose… I thought well, if I play well, I have my chances."     Former #1 Lindsay hadn’t lost a Fed Cup match since 1994. Lindsay said: "Obviously, [I’m] disappointed with the way I went out there and played. But at the same time, [Sabine] played very well and [that] had a lot to do with that. I never felt great all day." 2 #76 Ashley Harkleroad USA d #87 Tatjana Malek GER 6-1, 6-3 Tatjana and Ashley driving backhands     Ashley said: "After [Lindsay] lost, I really just tried to focus on my game. And just going out and enjoying the opportunity to be out there, since this is my first Fed Cup… Zina told me, ‘just enjoy the moment because you never know.’ And that’s what I did, and I executed it and I had fun." Sunday, Feb 3, 2008 1830 GMT: Postponed to Monday 1800 GMT due to rain ITF story 3 #44 Lindsay Davenport USA d #118 Julia Goerges GER 6-1, 6-2 Lindsay twisting a serve, Julia following a forehand, and Lindsay's backhand drive     Lindsay said: "Very rarely in tennis do you get the opportunity to go back out on the court the next day or the day after a loss. I was able to do that. But, most importantly, I was able to win an important match for the team."     Julia said: "If you play your first Fed Cup match against such a great player as Lindsay, it’s really tough to go out. You just try to go for your best, just fight for every point." 4 #76 Ashley Harkleroad USA d #130 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-4, 7-5 Sabine and Ashley driving backhands, and Ashley after winning a point     Ashley trailed Sabine 1-4 at the start of the 2nd set. Ashley said: "I was just hoping to come in here and play well and fight... At the end, I was nervous and my arm felt like it weighed 100 pounds." 5 d3 Lisa Raymond & d170 Lindsay Davenport USA d d104 Anna-Lena Groenefeld & d133 Tatjana Malek GER 6-2, 6-0 United States: #44 d170 Lindsay Davenport #76 d148 Ashley Harkleroad #92 d53 Laura Granville #NR d3 Lisa Raymond Captain: Zina Garrison - Coach: Mary Joe Fernandez Germany: #87 d133 Tatjana Malek #118 d310 Julia Goerges #130 d470 Sabine Lisicki #301 d104 Anna-Lena Groenefeld Captain: Barbara Rittner

France 2 at China 3     Beijing International Tennis Center, Beijing, China indoor: hard stats, .pdf Saturday, Feb 2, 2008 0200 GMT ITF story 1 #32 Na Li CHN d #58 Alize Cornet FRA 6-3, 6-1 Alize and Na driving backhands     Na said: "I played okay. I thought [Alize] played quite well. I don't really know the French teams' players too well or what their games are like, so I just concentrated on playing my own game."     Alize won the first two games of the match, and was a point away from 3-0. Alize said: "I started well and I would have liked to keep that up but the tension and frustration caught up with me. But I think I will grow a lot from this experience." 2 *#51 Shuai Peng CHN d #27 Virginie Razzano FRA 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Shuai serving, and after winning a point     Shuai said: "I was a little bit nervous and then when I was down first set, I heard ould hear a lot of fans and my team and coach support me and I could come back and win in the third set. I am really happy. We’re up 2-0 and we have a chance to make the next round."     Virginie said: "I am really disappointed to have lost. It’s never easy to lose when playing for your country. But we still have tomorrow. [Shuai] played a great match, and I did everything that I could and gave my all." Sunday, Feb 3, 2008 0200 GMT: 3 #27 Virginie Razzano FRA d #32 Na Li CHN 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Virginie's service toss, and Na driving a backhand 4 #65 Nathalie Dechy d #60 Zi Yan 6-3, 6-2 5 d13 Zi Yan & d18 Jie Zheng CHN d d14 Nathalie Dechy & d845 Virginie Razzano 7-5, 7-6(5) Jie and Zi after winning a point France: #27 d845 Virginie Razzano #54 d443 Pauline Parmentier #58 d319 Alize Cornet #65 d14 Nathalie Dechy Captain: Georges Goven China: #32 d223 Na Li #51 d27 Shuai Peng #60 d13 Zi Yan #179 d18 Jie Zheng Captain: Hong-Wei Jiang

Spain 3 at Italy 2     PalaVesuvio, Naples, Italy indoor: hard (RuKortHard) stats, .pdf Saturday, Feb 2, 2008 1400 GMT ITF story 1 *#136 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP d #23 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2 Nuria's forehand, Francesca one-handed backhand drive, and Nuria's 2-hander     Rain stopped play during the match for 45 minutes--which was rather unusual for a match being played on an indoor hardcourt. A leaky roof was the culprit. Nuria said: "It was a problem for both of us. It was dangerous for the two of us and we couldn't play anymore." Reuters story     Francesca was 1-1 against Nuria in previous matches. Francesca said: "I made three or four errors at important times and it cost me the match. At the break I was thinking I could make a change and it would favour me but instead [Nuria] played well... Today was her day, tomorrow will be mine... Nobody died. I’ll go and have a pizza and try to do better tomorrow."     Nuria won the Rabat title and reached the Guangzhou final in 2005, and reached a career-high ranking of # 35 the same year. But in 2006 she suffered a right wrist injury and missed most of the season. Returning from injury last year, her WTA play was inconsistent, though she won 3 ITF titles.     Nuria's teammate, # 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues followed by defeating # 34 Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3, giving the Spaniards a 2-0 lead over the Italians. Anabel leads Francesca 2-0 in career matches, but their previous meetings were on red clay. Flavia is 3-0 against Nuria. If the score on Sunday is 2-2 going into the final match, look for both teams to change their declared doubles lineups (shown below). 2 #30 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #34 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-2, 6-3 Flavia moving to field a backhand, and Anabel driving one Sunday, Feb 3, 2008 1230 GMT: 3 *#30 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #23 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 6-1 Anabel serving, Francesca's backhand, and Anabel after match point 4 #64 Sara Errani ITA d #89 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 5 d37 Tathiana Garbin & d143 Sara Errani ITA v d90 Nuria Llagostera Vives & d146 Carla Suarez-Navarro ESP 6-4, 6-3 Italy: #23 d57 Francesca Schiavone #34 d36 Flavia Pennetta #41 d37 Tathiana Garbin #64 d143 Sara Errani Captain: Corrado Barazzutti Spain: #30 d21 Anabel Medina Garrigues #89 d60 Lourdes Dominguez Lino #136 d90 Nuria Llagostera Vives #160 d146 Carla Suarez-Navarro Captain: Miguel Margets Lobato

World Group II & Zonal Groups: Photos of some World Group II & Zonal Group winners, January 31-February 3, 2008: World Group II (Feb 2, Feb 2, Feb 2, Feb 3, Feb 3, Feb 3, Feb 3, Feb 3): top row: Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia "reacting" in Brno as she defeated Czech Republic's Petra Cetkovska 7-5, 6-3... Akiko Morigami of Japan chasing down a forehand in Mishiki while defeating Nika Ozgovic of Croatia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1... Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko backhanding in Kharkov while defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1, 6-2... Australian Open doubles champs Kateryna Bondarenko and sister Alona after defeating Belgium by winning the doubles, 6-2, 6-3... bottom row: Jorgelina Cravero after clinching Argentine victory by defeating Austria's Melanie Klaffner 6-4, 6-4, in Buenos Aries... Czech Nicole Vaidisova after defeating Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Brno... Nicole hugging doubles expert Kveta Peschke after defeating Dominika & Janette Husarova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 (Czech d Slovak 3-2)... Aiko Nakamura after clinching victory for Japan by defeating Nika Ozgovic of Croatia 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, in Mishiki. Ukraine, Argentina, Czech Republic & Japan advanced to the World Group Playoffs, April 26-27 Europe/Africa Zonal Group I in Budapest (Jan 31, Feb 1, Feb 2, Feb 2, Feb 2, Jan 30, Feb 2): top row: Jelena Jankovic of Serbia while defeating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-7, 7-5... Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia while defeating Monica Nicelescu and Sorana Cirstea of Romania 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(2)... Ana Ivanovic of Serbia while defeating Rennae Reinhard of The Netherlands 6-2, 3-6, 6-3... bottom row: Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland serving while defeating Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-4, 5-7, 6-4... Patty Schnyder of Switzerland while defeating Katie O'Brien of Britain 7-6(5), 7-5... Emmanuelle & Patty after winning the deciding doubles over Sweden, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). Serbia and Switzerland advanced to the World Group II Playoffs, April 26-27

    (Jan 23, 2007) Teams have been formally announced for this year's Fed Cup 1st round; Maria Sharapova will be playing for Russia in Israel.
World Group II lineups - Zonal Group I lineups - Zonal Group II lineups

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Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2008 WTA Schedule with links & photos

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WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.