2011 Fed Cup: Russia struggles past France to make it into the final four
Third seed, Russia survived an early scare against France to make it into the semi-finals as the two teams met for their first round match of the 2011 Fed Cup World Group. An ITF event, the Fed Cup is an all-woman tournament where
the tennis players compete under the banner of their respective countries.
Led by Nicolas Escude, the French team brought in Alize Cornet, Virginie Razzano, Pauline Parmentier and Julie Coin. They were hosted by Shamil Tarpischev’s team of former world number one Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova,
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dinara Safina.
With team Russia comprising of three Top 50 players as compared to France’s zero count, it came as much surprise to everyone when France led the tie 2-0, though the Motherland eventually bounced back to prevail 3-2. Apart from
the advantage of having higher skilled professionals, Russia also enjoyed the statistical edge of leading the head-to-head count against France by 5-3; not to mention, set in Moscow, the Russians also had the backing of the local-cheering crowd.
The tie kicked off in emphatic fashion as world number 23, Kuznetsova met the highest ranked French marvel - world number 67, Cornet. After bouncing back from being one set down in the opening rubber, Cornet pushed the tie into
a gruelling three-setter. Having lost the first set 3-6, Cornet registered a complete reversal of the score in the second set to level the set score. Cornet broke her opponent's serve once in the deciding set to clinch a 6-4 win, taking France one up in the
best-of-five rubber score.
The French team was overwhelmed in the second rubber when Razzano dismissed the former world number one and Fed Cup debutant, Sharapova in straight sets. Razzano registered a 6-3, 6-4 win for the match, losing only seven games
and putting France ahead with a 2-0 lead. However, this was as far as the French would go.
The third rubber between Pavlyuchenkova and Cornet increased ten folds in hype since France needed only one more win to clinch the tie while Russia needed to ensure her survival. After the opening set, it seemed as if France would
finally upset the third seed as Cornet registered a 6-3 win for herself. However, 14th ranked Pavlyuchenkova bounced back in the second set and lost only five games in two sets to secure a three-set win for herself and in effect for Russia. A 3-6,
6-3, 6-2 win for Pavlyuchenkova meant Russia was still in the race, though the threat of France being just a single-rubber win away was still looming over their heads.
It was only in the fourth rubber that Russia breathed a sigh of relief when Kuznetsova came to her rescue. Although she lost her first match against Cornet, Kuznetsova had no difficulty dismissing Razzano in her second match. A
twin-set-score victory of 6-4, 6-4 levelled the tie score at 2-2, bringing it down to the deciding doubles rubber.
Pavlyuchenkova and Safina rose to the occasion, as they capitalized on the home court advantage and shouldered the immense pressure, as they guided Russia safely into the final four. The Russians met with resistance from the Italians
as they met Coin and Parmentier in their doubles matchup; the latter pushed the opening set into a tiebreaker. After much effort from their side, the Russians were able to clinch the tiebreaker 7-6(4). The second set that followed was icing on Russia’s victory
cake as her doubles’ partners dismissed their opponents without a loss of a single game. The Russian duo managed a bagel set win in the second set, registering a 6-0 score and in effect a 3-2 win in the tie.
As she now leads the head-to-head 6-3, this was Russia’s third straight win over France. The third seeds now move ahead to play top seeds and two-time defending champions, Italy in the semi-finals in April at home.
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