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France and Russia roll to Fed Cup final
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-11 08:28
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - Anastasia Myskina ended the resistance of the
U.S. on Sunday and sent defending champions Russia into a Fed Cup final re-run
against France.
Russia's Anastasia Myskina smiles as she
celebrates her victory over Jill Craybas of the U.S. during their Fed Cup
semi-final match at Olympiyskiy stadium in Moscow, July 10, 2005. Myskina
won the match 6-2 6-4. [Reuters] | The former French Open champion beat Jill Craybas 6-2 6-4 in Moscow's Olympic
Stadium after Venus Williams had briefly raised U.S. hopes that they could
overturn a 2-0 deficit.
"I knew I had a great chance to clinch the tie and it would have been a
disaster if I had lost," said Myskina who starred for Russia in last year's
final.
Spain never remotely threatened a comeback against France. Amelie Mauresmo
polished them off with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Nuria Llagostera Vives in
Aix-en-Provence to give them an unassailable 3-0 lead.
France will be gunning for revenge in the final at Roland Garros in
September, having relinquished their crown in a 3-2 defeat by Russia last year
in Moscow.
"We played them (Russia) away a few times over the past few years," said
Mauresmo, who notched her 15th successive Fed Cup victory. "It will be great to
play them before our home fans."
Since the Fed Cup changed its format in 1995 only four teams have managed to
win after trailing 2-0 so the odds were stacked against a U.S. team already
handicapped by the loss of world number one Lindsay Davenport last week to a
back injury.
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