Fed Cup 2008 - Imposing Russia retain title

Eurosport - Mon, 15 Sep 11:09:00 2008

Russia lifted the Fed Cup for the fourth time in five seasons after Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Spanish number one Anabel Medina Garrigues and their doubles pair completed a whitewash.

TENNIS Svetlana Kuznetsova - 0

The world number seven's 5-7 6-3 6-4 victory in two hours and 39 minutes gave Russia an unassailable 3-0 lead that was achieved despite the absence of the country's top three players and underlined Russia's dominance of the women's game.

The victory for Kuznetsova, who had not won a tournament all year, was no easy matter, however. Medina Garrigues fought bravely with the noisy backing of the near full 4,000-seater stadium, before finally running out of steam in the last set.

"Today it was important for me," said the 23-year-old from St Petersburg. "I felt very nervous, I had so many ups and downs but still, bringing the win for my team, it's amazing".

As on Saturday, Medina Garrigues, ranked 29, in the world was slow out of the blocks, meekly conceding her first two service games in the face of her opponent's powerful groundstrokes.

Kuznetsova seemed to be cruising but in the fifth game, the 26-year-old Spaniard somehow produced a fizzing crosscourt backhand off a Kuznetsova smash to set up a break and then hold her own serve in the following game.

The first set swung decisively the way of the Spanish Olympic doubles silver medallist in the ninth when Kuznetsova squandered four set points with a series of wayward forehands.

A fired-up Medina Garrigues set up her second break back of the set with a running drive backhand down the line before a deflated Kuznetsova patted the next ball into the net.

In a match played with great sportsmanship, Kuznetsova over-ruled a line judge to give her opponent a point with the set poised delicately at 5-5. Medina Garrigues went on to break the former US Open champion before holding her own serve to take the first set.

Kuznetsova raised her game in the second set and in the eighth game seized on Medina Garrigues's short second serve to break for a 5-3 before slamming down two aces in the next to wrap up the set.

Medina Garrigues cancelled out an early break from Kuznetsova in the third set but failed to keep the pressure going and the Russian's greater poise on the big points proved decisive.

Kuznetsova said after the match she was leaving the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, where she has trained for over a decade, to return to Russia.

"I miss my country and I think I need to do a few things differently to change my game. I love Spain but I think it's time to change, this is what my soul is asking me to do," she said.

In the final rubber, Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova beat Carla Suarez and Nuria Llagostera 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour

On Saturday Kuznetsova beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-1 and Vera Zvonareva beat Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 12 of 12

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. how did carla lose her doubles to lower ranked players ­ 2-6 + 1-6---- quite overwhelming

    From errattic.results, on Tue 16 Sep 2:51PM

  2. Russia is the best,always first

    From djolebo, on Mon 15 Sep 7:51AM

  3. CONGRATULATIONS for overwhelming doubles success to­ Vesnina & Ekaterina Makarova
    for beating higher­ ranked players by score of ,,,,, 6-2 ~~ ­ 6-1
    ----------WELL DONE

    From controlclimate, on Mon 15 Sep 6:28AM

  4. at Wimbledon this year Garrigues played well to beat­ seed 20 Schiovane _-- we saw it - Welldone

    llagostera­ vives -- met Vesnina again + lost again­ coincidence//// Chakvetadze was seeded 8­ there

    wonder how they managed to lose Fed Cup doubles­ by 6-6 ~~ 6-1 {not on our TV here}

    Good Luck­ for rest of season ~~ thanks for your comments

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 8:43PM

  5. hi bob 10 ~~ WHO is 8th best ?? do tell secret­ please --- or was that a misprint

    sad Spain­ decided not to play 2nd reverse singles+++ == we­ suppose 4-0 was quite enough darling

    we love
    ­ ~~~~Garrigues -- we supported her at Wimbledon this­ year--- most welcome member of tennis circuit

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 8:22PM

  6. Ted you say that Makarova is attractive, speaks perfect­ Eglish and smiles a lot and you will get no argument­ from me. But I never saw a player hit a winner with­ their face. You say she beat Chakvedtadze - so who­ hasn't recently. Rising star? Possibly not not­ rising anywhere near as fast as Suarez Navarro who has­ jumped 121 places in the rankings this year as opposed­ to Makarova's 52.

    Makarova may be prettier than­ the two Spanish girls but I don't believe she is­ anywhere near as good a player.

    As for giving your­ country's 8th best player a run out in a dead­ rubber, fine, as long as your prepared to give the­ paying public their money back.

    From Bobito, on Sun 14 Sep 7:49PM

  7. hi bob ~ yes both shooting up rankings
    this week ­ Carla =46 with Ekaterina ==48 ~~ rankings ^^^^ ­ should be great match ...?

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 7:47PM

  8. many thanks for reply
    once a match is won ,,, the­ remaining ties are ,,,"Dead rubbers"
    ~ so­ it is sensible for newcomers to be allowed to play the ­ 2nd singles to gain experience
    ~~~ the rules­ allow this substitution

    who knows just which highly­ ranked star millionaires might again find it­ inconvenient to play next time too

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 6:48PM

  9. many thanks for reply
    Once a match has been won ,, ­ remaining matches are //

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 6:41PM

  10. Ekaterinabell you are obviously a Makarova fan but are­ you seriously suggesting that she should have played in­ preference to Kuznetsova or Zvonereva from the start?­ This is the Fed Cup final remember. Both Anabel Madina­ Garrigues and Carla Suarez Navarro are higher ranked­ than Makerova and Suarez Navarro is shooting up the­ rankings. Once Makarova had lost both of her matches,­ as she most probably would have done, then the title­ would have been up for grabs in the doubles match. Why­ on Earth should Russia take such a risk.

    From Bobito, on Sun 14 Sep 6:09PM

  11. NOW THE MATCH IS WON AS EXPECTED ~~~ GIVE EKATERINA­ MAKAROVA THE 2ND SINGLES SPOT
    THEY COULD HAVE WON MATCH­ ANYWAY IF SHE HAD PLAYED 2ND SINGLES FROM START

    From ekaterinabell, on Sun 14 Sep 2:38PM

  12. So cute, lovely. Just saw her on millionaire persoanals­ club """"" BillionaireCupid ­ COM"""""" several days­ ago. I am a member there, recommended by my best­ friend, a Cinderella, who found her wealthy prince­ charming there last year.

    From freefish, on Sat 13 Sep 5:35PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account