from fedcup.com
Russia wins incredible final to take Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
In one of the most dramatic weekends of tennis for many years, Russia has retained the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas after a titanic struggle against a valiant France.
In the gathering gloom, the clock showing 19:55 local time, a forehand return from Amelie Mauresmo sailed long, and the scratch pairing of Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina had defeated Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce 64 16 63 in the deciding fifth rubber.
Well though 19-year-old Dinara Safina played in such pressurised circumstances, it was Elena Dementieva who was the Russian heroine this weekend, winning all three rubbers she played, emulating her teammate Anastasia Myskina’s feat last year when Russia won this coveted trophy for the first time.
Dementieva had been saying all week how much she wanted to win this Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final, having been on the losing side for Russia in the 1999 Final, to USA, and in the 2001 Final to Belgium, before missing out on last year’s win over France due to injury.
"It's my third Fed Cup Final but the first time that I have won so I am really happy," said Dementieva, beaming from ear to ear.
Typically, though, she refused to accept all the credit, and was keen to emphasise Myskina's contrbution this year, even if she did lose both rubbers she played this weekend.
"I am not the heroine, the team won, not any individual.
"Although Anastasia lost today, if she hadn't beaten Venus Williams in the semifinal, we may not have been here."
The French were understandably desperately disappointed to have lost such a close contest, but they seemed to take some solace in having given their all and played a huge part in such a memorable final.
"I am proud of my performance this weekend," said Pierce. "We played some high-level tennis. The public were great. It's just a pity that we didn't win."
The tennis in this Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final had been variable in quality but never less than utterly compelling. It was almost inevitable that it would go down to a final decisive doubles rubber, just as the final between these two teams in Moscow did last year, and then that it would go to a final set, with one side and then the other seemingly having the momentum.
At around 17:00 this afternoon Russia had all but retained the trophy, with Anastasia Myskina 4-1 up in the second set against Mary Pierce and just six points from glory at 30-all. Somehow Mary Pierce managed to keep France’s hopes alive and force a decisive fifth rubber, and having pulled out such a stunning fightback, French Captain Georges Goven decided to nominate Pierce instead of Nathalie Dechy for the crucial final rubber.
Three breaks of serve began the match to underline the nerves on court, but it was France who had the early advantage as Pierce held for 3-1. Goven’s decision looked to be paying off. Equally Dementieva and Safina, who had never played together at any level, did not seem to be gelling as a team.
Once again though just when one nation seemed to have grabbed the initiative, back came their opponents. Showing glimpses of the doubles form that took her to the final at the US Open just a week ago alongside Flavia Pennetta, Dementieva started to get her game together, and Safina in turn began to feed off her partner’s growing confidence. A delicate crosscourt backhand from Safina gave Russia the first set, and one wondered if France had run out of chances to win the trophy, especially when Russia went 1-0 up in the second set having won twelve straight points.
Of course that was just a cue for another seismic shift in the direction of the match, and France were soon on a run of their own to reel off six straight games. For the first time since the 1991 Final, the Fed Cup would be decided by a final set of a final rubber – eerily reminiscent of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final in 2002 between these two nations in the same city.
However when France broke Safina’s serve in the first game of the final set for a seventh consecutive game, and doing so from 40-0 down at that, there were few inside a fervent Court Philippe Chatrier who thought that Russia could beat France in a final set again, as the men had done in that Davis Cup Final. Indeed, the visitors’ hopes were fading as fast as the light, and a first French Fed Cup success on home soil was surely just a matter of time.
It was not to be. There was instead time for more twists in this extraordinary story, and the final chapter began with Amelie Mauresmo dropping serve thanks to four volleying errors. The confidence almost visibly drained from her at that point, and although the match went on serve to 3-2 for Russia, Mauresmo lost her next service game to love and Russia were once again on the brink of victory at 4-2.
After having a point for 5-2 though, Dementieva lost her serve and the prospect of a third day’s play looked a distinct possibility if Pierce could hold serve for 4-all, such was the darkness descending on the court. At 30-all, Dementieva drilled a winner down the line, and Safina then flashed an inside-out forehand past the helpless Mauresmo onto the line to put Russia 5-3 up.
Finally, these really were the killer blows, and Safina served out the match with relative ease after a total of ten hours six minutes of pulsating action over the weekend.
It had been an incredibly tense one hour 47 minute final rubber, a fitting end to a marvellous weekend of competition in which every player that took to the court gave everything for their countries. Tennis - sport even - doesn't come any more passionate and dramatic than this.
Marat Safin phoned his little sister Dinara after the match to congratulate her, an appropriate gesture on a day when the 15,000 privileged to be inside Roland Garros saw that the Fed Cup, for so long regarded as the little sister of the Davis Cup, has finally grown up.
www.fedcup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=10758There is also a link to an audio file with Lena's interview ;D
HAD TO post this one...seconds after they lost 
