By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com

LIEVIN, France - When U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez told Christina McHale Thursday night there was a possibility she could be substituted into the team’s lineup for this weekend’s tie against France, the 17-year-old tried not to get her hopes up too high at the prospect.

McHale was traveling and training as a practice partner with the team in Lievin, France, where it faces the French team in a quarterfinal tie Saturday and Sunday indoors on red clay. However, teammate Shenay Perry hurt her wrist and her playing status was questionable.

The thought of being named to the team (and also possibly playing) was almost unbelievable for McHale but she told herself, “Don’t get too excited,” just in case it did not happen.

But it did.

Friday morning before the official draw, Fernandez spoke with Perry, whose wrist injury was not well enough to allow her to compete at her best, and then turned to McHale to fill the her spot on the team, announcing her on the roster during the ceremony. She is not currently scheduled to play but with changes allowed on the day of the matches, that could change as well.

However, whether she plays or does not, this is another big step in the up-and-coming career of an emerging talent.

Although this is her first time as an official member of the U.S. team, McHale is not a Fed Cup newbie. This was the third tie with the team as a practice partner and Future Fed Cupper, having also participated in La Jolla, Calif. in 2008 and Brno, Czech Republic in 2009.

“I was so excited,” McHale said of when Fernandez gave her the news Friday. “I definitely think being with the team the previous two times has helped me. I know the routine, what to expect. If I do play, I know how the crowd gets; it won’t be something new to me. I know Mary Joe better; I know a lot of the team better. I definitely think all of that experience will help me.”

Her game is also leaps and bounds ahead of where she was in La Jolla as a 15-year-old who didn't really know anyone on the team to now being a stronger, more confident 17-year-old with professional experience, a Grand Slam main draw victory and familiarity with the whole Fed Cup team and captain.

“Christina is good on the clay. She is a hard worker and she was holding her own against everyone in practice this week so it a good sign,” Fernandez said. “I have seen major improvements in her game since the last time we had her with the Fed Cup team, which was in Brno. I like her work ethic and I like the way she competes.”

Her appointment to the team is the latest in a long string of accomplishments for McHale. Rising through the junior ranks the past few years, she had her biggest breakthroughs lasy year. She won the girls’ doubles title at the Australian Open and a few months later, won the Girls’ 18s title at the prestigious Easter Bowl as well as winning both the Girls’ 18s singles and doubles titles at the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships.

Her singles victory at nationals carried an extra prize: an automatic main draw wild card entry to the 2009 US Open. She had competed in her first Grand Slam main draw at the 2009 Australian Open after winning a USTA wild card tournament, falling in her opening match 9-7 in the third set to Jessica Moore of Australia.

But having grown up in (and still a resident of) Englewood Cliffs, N.J., the US Open is her favorite tournament. And it turned into the site of one of, if not the biggest, win of her young career. In her first match, she defeated Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who is currently ranked No. 63 in the world, in straight sets in front of a big crowd of family and supporters from her club in Jersey for her first Grand Slam main draw victory.

Her win then earned her a second round date with former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova in a night match in Arthur Ashe Stadium. She did not play her best as Sharapova won in straight sets but it was a good learning experience to play against one of the best players in the world. One shot, however, she is still savoring.

“Winning my first round match definitely helped my confidence. She (Hercog) was the highest ranked player I had beaten or even played. I was really excited about that, especially the US Open since it is my favorite tournament,” McHale said. “Everyone came to watch me from my area. And then to play on Ashe at night that was really exciting even though I didn’t do as well as I liked.

“I just need more experience at that level,” she added. “But there was one shot. I hit this one forehand. It was really early in the match, it just made my night – for break point. I hit this really good forehand down the line. But (the experience) showed me what I need to work on to reach a level where she is at.”

Her US Open win helped boost her to a career-high WTA ranking of No. 204 and she now currently is No. 215 and coming off two straight quarterfinal appearances on the USTA Pro Circuit (both on clay) and reached the final of a $50,000 tournament in Troy, Ala. last fall. She is No. 55 in the ITF world junior rankings.

Not an opposing player at 5’5” and 108 lbs, McHale can still hit her serve over 110 mph and one of her biggest assets on the court is her movement as well as an improved forehand and power. She is still working on making her serve more consistent as well as being more aggressive and finishing points off at the net.

She has trained at the USTA Training Center headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. since she was 15, including living at the facility full-time for a year. Since then, she has split her training between Boca and training at home in New Jersey at the Tenafly Racquet Club with coach Carlos Cano, with whom she has worked since she was 13.

Starting next week, McHale is going to try training out of the USTA Training Center in Carson, Calif. instead of Boca when she is not in New Jersey or at a tournament. She did not like living away from home the entire year and finds splitting her time to be a much better balance. Carson also seems to be a good fit for at least the near future since she is playing a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament a short distance away in Surprise, Ariz. in two weeks.

“I like the combination. I was living in Boca but I don’t like being away from home that much so I like the combination of New Jersey and either Boca or now Carson,” she said. “I miss being home and I think this (training in two places) is better for me at least.”

McHale is homeschooled, making the switch around the country easier, and turns 18 this May. Soon after that is her highly anticipated high school graduation. Attending college is in the back of her mind but she is definitely taking a year off and next year will see how things are going tennis-wise. And to that end, she is keeping her amateur status to maintain her NCAA eligibility.

She has been playing on the USTA Pro Circuit the past few years and will continue to do so and in any WTA Tour events her ranking allows her to enter for the near future. But as an amateur, it means accepting no money, including for the clothes she receives from Nike and her Head racquets.

“I have to keep all my receipts and my amateur forms to prove that at a tournament I did not take the money,” McHale said of the extra complications. “You can get your expenses reimbursed so I have to keep all those papers to show all they are all I got back.”

The McHale family now knows more about the college process and college tennis with Christina’s older sister Lauren playing tennis on scholarship at the University of North Carolina.

Both Christina and Lauren played tennis and swam as children – with Christina starting tennis at age seven. By age 12 it came time to pick one of the two sports to devote more time to and like Lauren before her, Christina chose tennis.

With her 18th birthday approaching, McHale will soon no longer have any limits on the number of professional tournaments she can play. She has four she can play before turning 18 in May and is eligible to play juniors for the rest of this year and might play in the junior draws at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open although her focus is on the professional events and rankings.

For this weekend, McHale’s focus is on doing whatever she can to help the U.S. team defeat France. And whether that is cheering from the bench or smacking another perfect forehand winner down the line, the team can count on her.