| Russians will not be able to compete for the next Federation Cup Russian tennis players lost the opening quarterfinal match of the Fed Cup to the Belgian team - 2:3 and dropped out of the fight for this prestigious trophy this season. The overall score of the Russian-Belgian confrontations at the Federation Cup became 3:1 in favor of the rivals.
Undoubtedly, this meeting was the most intriguing of all the Cup quarterfinal matches. Initially, the Russians' chances were estimated lower than those of the Belgians - 45 percent to 55. This forecast was based on the composition of the participants. The captain of the Belgian team, Karl Maes, brought out the “heavy artillery” in the persons of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, whose names and achievements in themselves were the key to success. True, in recent years both tennis players refused to play for the national team. Clijsters hasn't played for five years, Henin-Hardenne for three years. However, this time, it seems, the decisive role was played by the location of the tournament - the city of Liege - the birthplace of Henin-Ardenne. And the composition of the Russian team was updated by half.
A strong single player, the leader of the Russian national team in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, Anastasia Myskina was replaced by Nadezhda Petrova, and Cup debutant Maria Kirilenko was announced instead of Vera Zvonareva. All these changes in the team, in fact, were forced. Myskina announced at the beginning of the year that she would not play for the team this season because she was not in the best shape and wanted to focus on her individual play. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the winner of the Indian Wells tournament, was inopportunely injured, and Maria Sharapova, although she promised at last year’s Kremlin Cup that this season she would certainly take to the court under the Russian flag, nevertheless did not keep her word. Thus, despite the potentially long bench, captain Shamil Tarpishchev did not have much to choose from.
None of our specialists had any special illusions about the outcome of the match meeting. Theoretically, one could hope that both Belgians would get tired in the event of protracted matches. The fighting qualities of Elena Dementieva, who has proven more than once that she is capable of working miracles in fights for the national team. And Nadezhda Petrova, who returned to the team after a three-year break, is able to withstand Henin-Hardenne. Indeed, in recent months, Petrova has gained excellent condition, as evidenced by her recent victories in Amelia Island and Charleston. However, all these advantages of the Russian team did not save it from defeat.
In five matches, the Russians managed to win only two victories. In the opening game, Elena Dementieva prevailed over Kim Clijsters - 6:4, 6:3. And in the last doubles match, which had no influence on the result of the quarterfinals, Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko beat Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne - 7:6 (7:4), 7:5. Apparently, the key moment in the match was the decision of Shamil Tarpishchev to enter Maria Kirilenko instead of Nadezhda Petrova for the game against Clijsters on the second match day. There is no need to guess what actually dictated this step, since the relationship between Tarpishchev and Petrova cannot be called cloudless, but in a conversation with journalists, the captain referred to Petrova’s injury, which she suffered in a lost match against Henin-Hardenne - 6:7( 2:7), 6:4, 6:3. Maria Kirilenko, who came on as a substitute, was clearly nervous in the first set, lost five games in a row, then rallied, but ultimately lost - 1:6, 4:6. Elena Dementieva did not turn the situation around, although if she had won over Henin-Hardenne, the Russians would have still had a chance of reaching the semi-final round. But Dementieva did not play her best match, and, in fact, the Belgian did not even notice her resistance - 2:6, 0:6.
Thus, after two triumphant seasons, the Russians can only prepare for the consolation round for the right to remain in the World Group. The Belgians' opponents in the semifinals will be the US team, which defeated the Germans 3:2. The other semi-final pair was the teams of Spain and Italy. The Spanish team beat the Australian team dry - 5:0, and the Italian team beat the French team - 4:1. Olga ERMOLINA |
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