By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com
 |
| Vania King 225 |
Moscow, Russia -- The outcome of the tie had already been decided but that did not matter to Ahsha Rolle.
Making her Fed Cup debut in the 2008 Fed Cup Semifinal between the U.S. and Russia, Rolle wanted to win her match for the team regardless of the fact that Russia had already won the tie.
And behind her excellent serving – that included ten aces – Rolle defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-3, 6-4 at Luzhniki Stadium for her first career Fed Cup singles victory, giving the U.S. its first point of the tie.
And it was a great U.S. Fed Cup debut for new American citizen Liezel Huber as she teamed with Vania King to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vesnina in doubles, the last rubber of the tie, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to make the final score 3-2 in favor of Russia.
Earlier in the day, Vera Zvonareva clinched the tie for Russia at 3-0 (Russia led 2-0 after Saturday) when she won a hard-fought, nearly two hour battle over King, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Kuznetsova was originally scheduled to face King but Russian Captain Shamil Tarpischev substituted Zvonareva and in the second singles match, he substituted Vesnina for Anna Chakvetadze against Rolle.
Russia, the defending Fed Cup champion, now advances to the 2008 World Group Final against Spain, which defeated China earlier in the day, 4-1. Spain will host the championship series September 13-14.
The loss ended the 2008 season for the U.S. and also the five-year tenure of Captain Zina Garrison, who is stepping down. Mary Joe Fernandez assumes the captain’s duties for the U.S. in 2009.
“It was a great atmosphere, my team was totally behind me the whole time. It was really exciting, I just wanted to go out there and play hard and try to get a win,” Rolle said. “Zina was positive, she kept giving us pep talks and I was going to go out and play hard for my team, I really wanted to win for them.”
Rolle also had a 65 percent first serve percentage and had a variety of shots working against Vesnina, the world 44..
"I served unbelievable today, I got a high first serve percentage and hit a few aces," Rolle, ranked No. 145 in the world, said. "My forehand was pretty good and she didn’t like my backhand slice either so that helped me win some points."
 |
| Vera Zvonareva 225 |
For King, ranked No. 115, she played two days of great tennis, coming very close both times to defeating two players ranked in the top 15 in the world. Similar to her match on Saturday against Chakvetadze, just a few missed opportunities and points were the difference in the match.
"I think it was the same today in that…if I had just won one or two points in the second or third set that it really could have changed the match around,” King said. “I think in that case it is very similar to yesterday’s match. I felt like I played really well."
King had the only break of serve in the first set in the eighth game as she broke Zvonareva at love.
Zvonareva, the world No. 14, battled back in the second set, earning her first break in the sixth game and closed out the set with an ace. For the match, Zvonareva’s serve was one of her best assets as she smacked eight aces.
“King improved her game a lot… I’ve seen her play before. I knew (the match) depended on whether I could play my game or not…I’m happy with the way I was serving because I was moving poorly and the serve helped me out a lot,” Zvonareva said. “We (the four Russian players) were all ready to play (today). We had an agreement that if we were up 2-0 (after Saturday), me and Elena would be playing the other (singles) rubbers.”
In the third set, King left a few break chances get away as Zvonareva saved one break point in the second game and went on to break King in the third game for a 2-1 lead and she never trailed again.
"I was extremely excited to win the first set and I just proved to myself that I could hang out here and win this match," King said. "I thought it was a bit unfortunate like yesterday. It is obviously very frustrating for me to be so close two days straight and to lose such close matches that I thought I should have won.”
King has enjoyed playing Fed Cup since 2006 for Garrison and hopes to continue playing for the U.S. under Fernandez.
“I played all my Fed Cups under Zina. I think she has done a terrific job as Fed Cup Captain. She has really brought all the teams together,” she said. “Win or lose I think we have really bonded well together and stayed as a family on and off the court. I am kind of sad that she is stepping down but I wish Mary Joe the best of luck and hopefully I can play under her in the future.”
For Garrison, she takes away many memories from her five years in the captain's chair and while each team is special to her, she is especially proud of this team.
"I’ve been Fed Cup Captain for the last five years and we’ve lost to Russia three out of the five years," she said. "This tie was very gratifying for me, even though we lost because this team came in and even the media was saying 'They don’t have a chance' and (these players) went out there and put themselves on the line and played some great tennis."
"I think the thing I remember most (about the five years) is I always had a young junior or somebody up-and-coming that I was able to bring them along," she added. "Vania was very young and eager (in 2006) and I’ve kind of grown up with her. Now Ahsha is so excited to be here, Madison was a Future Fed Cupper and... it’s only been a couple of years and now she is on the team. And it was great to have the enthusiasm of Liezel and to see the emotions when she was crying. She is just very excited to be an American."