TNT Sports
Russia lead USA 2-0
By
Published 09/07/2005 at 17:52 GMT+1
Anastasia Myskina stunned Wimbledon champion Venus Williams on Saturday as Russia blasted into a 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup semi-final against the United States in the Olympic Stadium. Myskina recovered from a sticky start on the indoor clay court to secu
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Image credit: TNT Sports
"I was quite nervous at the beginning," said Myskina, who turned 24 on Friday.
"It was the first match, the first point (in the tie).
Besides, I wasn't just playing an ordinary player. I was up against Venus Williams, the Wimbledon champion."
Elena Dementieva later clawed back a 1-5 deficit in the first set against debutant Mashona Washington to win 7-5 6-4 and put the defending champions firmly on course for a first victory over the 17-times champions and a final against France or Spain.
Russia's world number five won six games in a row to claim the first set and then raced ahead into a 5-2 lead in the second before Washington staged a late rally.
She finally secured victory on her first match point when the 52nd-ranked American hit a backhand wide after 92 minutes.
Washington was only playing in place of world number one Lindsay Davenport after she pulled out with a back injury sustained during last week's Wimbledon defeat by Venus.
Dementieva, who lost to Myskina in last year's French Open final, said her team mate's victory had partly contributed to her dreadful start.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting us to be leading after the first match," said Dementieva, who also lost in the U.S. Open final last year to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"I'm so used to seeing us 1-0 down in previous ties where I had to fight back to get us on level terms, that I was a bit too relaxed and it took me a while to get my game together."
Myskina, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon after a disappointing year, lost the opening set of the day when Venus got lucky with a net cord that dribbled over on set point.
ENTHUSIASTIC CROWD
Cheered on by the home crowd, and an enthusiastic former Russia President Boris Yeltsin, she saved three break points in the second game of the second set before a key break in the seventh game proved enough to level up the match.
Myskina dominated the decider as she moved Venus all over the court with some fierce baseline hitting.
"It's tough to play after winning a grand slam. I know it myself," Myskina said. "I knew that Venus would not be on top of her game and I wanted to take advantage of that."
The 25-year-old Venus faded badly in the final set as she dropped serve twice to hand Myskina victory.
"I was trying to get a win for the U.S. but just couldn't do it," said the five-times grand slam champion who committed 49 unforced errors. "I tried my best but I wasn't 100 percent, I was slow today."
"It was a tough day but I'll try to do better tomorrow."
The United States, who are looking for a first Fed Cup title since 2000, face a daunting task on Sunday, although captain Zina Garrison was trying to remain positive.
"I knew we would have two tough days but moral in my team is still high and the match is not over yet," she said.
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