On Sunday in Lievin, France, Melanie Oudin defeated Julie Coin in 2 singles matches, ensuring the US a spot in the Fed Cup semi-finals. Her victory put the US at 4 to 1 over France. It took a little longer than 2 hours for teenager Oudin to defeat Coin with 7-6 (3), 6-4 and give the US a 3 point lead over France. The next match-up for the US will be in April on the 24th and 25th, against Russia.
The Williams sisters, Venus and #1 player Serena, did not play in France, and the French team was missing its top stars, too. Aravane Rezai, Marion Bartoli and Virginia Razzing were missing from the competition.
Oudin is only 18-years-old, and the day before on Saturday defeated Parmentier 6-4, 6-4. Her victory against Coin was cemented in set 2, in game 5, when her French opponent erred on a forehand. In the first set, Oudin had hung on when the score was 5-5, forcing a tiebreaker. She hit 3 in a row to finish that set. She acknowledged that she'd played a good tie-breaker and some of the match's best points.
Alize Cornet had originally been scheduled in the match-up against Oudin but the captain of the French team, Nicolas Escude, put Coin in instead. Cornet apparently admitted having a difficult time with nervousness on Saturday when she faced Mattek-Sands in a match. Cornet lost against her after having the advantage with 5-2. Cornet has lost 6 out of 6 Fed Cup singles matches, so the captain apparently thought it was likely that she'd lose the 7th.
Coin offered up some excellent service games, and Oudin worked hard to keep pace with her but quickly rallied and went on to the win. Pauline Parmentier defeated the US' Christina McHale 6-4, 6-4. Bethanie Matteck-Sands and Liezel Huber had victories in their doubles matches against Alize Cornet and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro defeating them with a fairly easy 6-2, 6-3.
Russia, a four-time Fed Cup winner, won in doubles and eliminated Serbia, with Alisa Kleybanova and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeating Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic with an unchallenging 6-1, 6-4. The 4 Fed Cup wins have been within the last 6 years, so everyone expected Russia to give other players a run for their money. Their matchup against the US in April could be a struggle for the US.
Another semi-finalist this year is the Czech Republic. This is the second year in a row the Czech Republic has reached the semi-finals of the Fed Cup. They beat Germany in doubles with a 3-2. Germany's Tatjana Malek and Anna-Lena Groenefeld lost 6-1, 6-3 in a fairly easy match-up against veteran doubles player Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka. The Czech Republic will play in April against Italy. Italy's doubles match went into a tiebreaker, with a singles match falling fairly easily.
Right now, given the histories and scores, with the US top players missing from the game, Russia is the country to watch in April.
Photo Credits: mrlaugh
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