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U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez.
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The U.S. is now in the Fed Cup semifinals! This was the first time for us since I have been captain that we clinched the tie in the third match. Melanie was tough again and she clinched it for us with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over Julie Coin. I think she played better today then she did yesterday. She got down a break early but hung in there really well and I thought the last few points of the tiebreak were her best tennis. Both days came down to a few points here and there and fortunately the American team hung tough and was mentally really strong.
It was nice to then put Christina in the fourth singles match after Melanie’s win today. She had a nice week of practice and it is nice to get the young ones accustomed to what they are going to experience in the future. She has been having great results and I was really proud of the way she played and competed. She was nervous and fought through that and played well. A couple points on serve go differently and she is in the match a little more and I was happy that she got a chance to play.
Bethanie was originally scheduled to play the fourth singles match and she was ready to go but she played a long match yesterday and I gave her the choice of playing or not. But she said that is fine for Christina to play and she wanted to just get ready for the doubles, where her and Liezel won 6-2, 6-3 to make the final score 4-1 in our favor.
We now play Russia in the semifinals and we will have a home tie for the first time since the quarterfinals against Argentina in Arizona last year, which was my first tie as captain. It will be nice to be home again and even though we are playing a tough team and probably the favorites of the whole competition, it is nice to be on home territory and have our fans and not have to travel so far, plus it is just after Charleston and it will be a nice change not to get on a plane for a long time.
But thank you for all the support for the team throughout this weekend and we hope this is only the beginning of great things for the U.S. Fed Cup Team this year.
February 6, 2010
It was a great day today with both Bethanie and Melanie winning their matches to give us a 2-0 lead heading into Sunday. Both matches were extremely close, especially in the first match between Bethanie and Alize Cornet, there were a lot of ups and downs in the first set and then a much more steady second set but there were so many long, grueling games and I am just so proud of both Bethanie and Melanie. They competed really well; they stuck with the right tactics and were able to perform when they needed to.
Bethanie was down 2-5 and 0-40 in her first set but she kept plugging away and won the set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7) and then the second set 7-5. However, even though she was down 5-2, she could have been up 5-2; she had game points in the first four games of that set. I was really happy that she kept with it. At 4-2, she had lost four games in a row but then she played a really good game, lost it to go down 2-5 but I think that helped get her back on track. And then for her to come back from that game at 5-2 and then break and win the tiebreak was unbelievable. The tiebreak kept going on and on with some great rallies. It was tough to watch but really, really great the way she came through.
Melanie then defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4 in another close match where the difference was that she played her best at key times and was able to win important points.
As of now, as long as everybody is healthy, we are staying with the lineup as scheduled for tomorrow. Both Melanie and Bethanie won today, so they are feeling confident. We go back to work with the first match, it is a tough match against Cornet for Melanie but we learned a little about her today and we will just go, start again and hope to get another win for Team U.S.A.
February 5, 2010
Today was the official draw ceremony where French captain Nicolas Escude and I announced our lineups for this weekend and the order of play was determined.
I decided to make a lineup change this morning and give Christina McHale, who came as our practice partner, a spot on the team. Shenay’s wrist has been bothering her and she gave me good feedback today of how she was feeling and I knew Christina was ready so that was helpful knowing I could put someone in there just in case. You want to have the healthiest and best team out there.
Christina is a hard worker and she has been holding her own against everyone in practice, which is a good sign. She has traveled and trained with the team twice before, in La Jolla in 2008 and in Brno in 2009 so she knows the team well and the ins and outs of Fed Cup.
As for the French team, Alize Cornet plays first singles against Bethanie in the opening match tomorrow and then Pauline Parmentier plays in the second singles spot against Melanie. We were not sure who would play second singles for the French team – either Parmentier or Julie Coin. Parmentier has been ranked as high as 40 in the world so we knew that she was a good possibility to play singles. We were ready for both her and Coin to play singles.
Bethanie leads off tomorrow, which is a similar lineup to last year against the Czech Republic. She led off, played two singles matches and the doubles match, which she is scheduled to do again as of now. She has been practicing well this week and it is a tough match against Cornet. Cornet is a talented player, who hits heavy off the forehand and has a solid backhand. It is important to get a good start tomorrow and Bethanie has the ability so if she competes well, we will see what happens. Go Team USA!
February 4, 2010We have a good week of practice, the girls have worked really hard and there is a lot intensity on the court. The team chemistry has been great; everyone has been there for each other. Everyone clicks really well and whatever anyone needs, they are there for each other. Liezel as always is the leader and she raises the intensity because she works so hard. There is a reason she is No.1 in the world and I think she sets such a good example for everybody else to follow.
Today we had two long practice sessions; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We played doubles so Liezel could get used to playing with everyone because you never know until the last minute who is going to play the doubles match. They drilled two-on-one in the morning and then they just played games in the afternoon.
Tomorrow is the official draw ceremony where I will announce the lineup for this weekend but I have not yet made my final decisions. I am going to sleep on my decisions and I will decide in the morning. As for the French team’s lineup, I except Alize Cornet to be their No. 1 because she is the top ranked player but you never know who will play where. But we will just focus on our side and I will try to get our team as ready as possible to compete on Saturday.
February 3, 2010 Our whole Fed Cup team is now in Lievin and settled as we prepare to face the French team this weekend. We practiced as a team for the first time yesterday, after everyone arrived with the exception of Bethanie, whose first team practice was today. Everyone has looked good so far and we are trying to get used to being on the clay court and playing indoors. The court is fairly hard, it gets a good bounce and good footing for a clay court and so far it has been good.
It has been a bit of challenge adjusting to the time changes, especially coming all the way from Australia. I think it is almost tougher to adjust for the girls who went home to the U.S. first for a bit and then came to France. I came right from Australia without going home first, which was a pretty long trip.
We still have one more day of practice before the draw ceremony on Friday, where I will announce my lineup for this weekend and which players will be playing in which positions. I have not made up my mind yet who will play where, I think we will wait one more day of practice and see who is playing well, who is feeling well before making final decisions on the lineup. So stay tuned!