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Melanie Oudin celebrates after defeating Julie Coin
© Corinne Dubreuil
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Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber share a laugh during the doubles match
© Corinne Dubreuil
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Captain Mary Joe Fernandez and the U.S. team after their win over France
© Corinne Dubreuil
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By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com
LIEVIN, France – Melanie Oudin went into her match against Julie Coin trying to put into the back of her mind the consequences of a victory.
If she won, the U.S. would clinch the Fed Cup quarterfinal tie over France, and if not, the tie would be decided in either the fourth singles match or the doubles rubber. She began the match admittedly a little tense.
But as the match progressed the nerves dissipated, she read Coin’s serve better and her strong groundstrokes and aggressiveness took over.
Coming back from a break down in the first set, Oudin fought and rallied for a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Coin in just over two hours in the third singles rubber to clinch the tie for the U.S in Lievin, France. The U.S. team now advances to the semifinals, where they will host Russia in a home tie. Russia advanced by beating Serbia, 3-2.
In the fourth singles match, Pauline Parmentier of France defeated Christina McHale, who was playing in her first career Fed Cup match, 6-4, 6-4, and then Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated Alize Cornet and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-2, 6-3, to make the final score 4-1 in favor of the U.S.
“I was thinking about (it being the potentially decisive match) in the beginning, but after that I was in the match and fighting hard and trying not to think about what would happen if I won,” Oudin said. “It means a lot to be able to win (this match) for the U.S. because in Italy (in the 2009 Fed Cup final), I was the decisive match for Italy to win the whole Fed Cup. It means a lot to be able to come back and do well this year.”
Oudin was originally scheduled to play Alize Cornet in a match-up of the teams’ No. 1 singles players, but prior to the match, French Captain Nicolas Escude substituted Coin.
U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez could not have been happier with the team she had this week, from its work ethic to its play on the court. She knows every match of the tie was tight and could have easily gone France’s way, and the difference was her team winning the points that mattered the most.
“I am very proud. Everybody competed really well,” Fernandez said. “They worked hard during the week, and that is what team competition is about -- working together, doing your best. And they all did that very well. In general, the big points were won by our team. I think everybody was really mentally tough, really persevered, and that made the difference in the end.”
Oudin’s match against Coin was tight, with the Frenchwoman using her strong serve to go up a break in the first game of the match. Coin hit ace after ace – 10 total for the match – but gradually Oudin began to read her serve better and brought the first set back on serve at 4-all with her first break.
In the tiebreaker, Coin had a 3-2 lead after an Oudin double fault but was unable to extend it, as she missed a shot wide and then into the net to give the American a 4-3 advantage. Oudin capitalized with a passing shot down the right line and then consecutive winners to take the set. In the second set, Oudin went ahead at 3-2 and never relinquished it, winning when a shot hit off Coin’s racquet and high into the rafters of the Stade Couvert Regional Lievin.
“I definitely think I started off pretty tight, but she was making me play badly because she was serving really, really well, hitting maybe two aces a game in the first set,” Oudin said of Coin. “So she was putting a lot of pressure on me and making me do a lot more with the ball. I just tried staying in there with her. The whole time I started getting closer and closer in her service games, making it go to deuce, and I think in the second I started reading her serve a whole lot better.”
Oudin’s victory to decide the tie then opened the door for McHale to play in place of Mattek-Sands in the fourth singles match in her Fed Cup debut. Although she lost, she was pleased with her play and the experience.
“I thought I played overall pretty well. There are definitely a couple things I could have done better. But overall it was a good experience, and I am pretty happy with the way I played,” McHale said.
And even though the tie was decided by the time the doubles was played, Huber could not have been happier to have her team in the semifinals again.
“It is awesome. I have the best team. This was just the best week. This Fed Cup was definitely a different experience than the other ones. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because it is my fifth Fed Cup and not my first Fed Cup,” Huber said. “I felt very comfortable with my team the whole week, and there was not that nervousness, and they showed that today and the whole week. This is the future; they are great. To play a dead match when we have won is pretty awesome.”