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by Joshua Lemere It was an exciting and very news-filled day for Day 1 of the USA vs. Austria Fed Cup Tie at the Olde Providence Racquet Club in Charlotte, NC. The grounds were abuzz with the dismissal of Jennifer Capriati. Because of her extra practices with non Fed-Cup teammates, Captain Billie Jean King dismissed Jennifer from the team. Because of this, the USA had to default her singles match on Saturday, giving Austria an early 1/0 lead. Upon arriving at the grounds at about 10 AM, I went straight to the court to watch the US Team practice. Lisa Raymond walked onto the court with a player that I could not identify at first, but after some time I realized it was Zina Garrison Jackson. I had seen Raymond the night before at the Ballantyne Resort and Spa - which is the official hotel - with her little Labrador puppy and speaking with Monica Seles’s coach, Mike Sell. Raymond was practicing with a male partner named Pierre. Raymond’s serve was okay, but her groundstrokes were definitely not working very well and Pierre was not doing any better. Perhaps she had a bad day or the clay was bothering her. I'm not real sure, but I was disappointed in her play. However, during the practices, Billie Jean King was very motivational. Like when Raymond hit a shot wide, King would say, "You did the right thing! That's good! Trust yourself!" Hopefully, King would inspire the US team because she got me motivated. A funny moment occurred during the practice session. A bird flew onto the court and Raymond stopped play and said, "Awwww...” however, Garrison promptly threw a ball in its direction and the bird flew away. At about 11:15, the Austrian singles players, Barbara Schwartz and Evelyn Fauth, walked onto the court for their practice. They were very “all business and no play” and had a good practice session. Schwartz's serve was particularly impressive as well as her left-hand-one-handed backhand. The Opening Ceremony began at 1 PM. With the Capriati dismissal still fresh on everyone’s mind, Billie Jean King was booed by the crowd when she was introduced. The first singles match between Monica Seles and Barbara Schwartz finally began 30 minutes behind schedule. Seles won the toss and elected to serve. She went down 0-30 quickly, but clawed her way back to win 4 straight points to go up 1/0. Schwartz then was taken to deuce on her game but eventually held when a forehand into the net by Monica gave Schwartz the game at 1/1. Seles then held her serve at 15 with a few unforced errors from Schwartz's racket. Schwartz followed up with a shaky service game, being broken at love to give Seles the first lead of the match at 3/1. Schwartz broke back on her 5th break point to make it 3/2. The American crowd was behind Seles 100% and cheered her every winner. In fact, a group of hard-core fans stood and yelled "WINNER!" after each winner she had hit. In a pivotal 8th game of the set, Seles failed to convert on three break point chances. The set was deadlocked at 4/4. Seles played a little less carefully on these points and definitely missed an opportunity to close out the first set on her serve in the next game. This was another important game, so I will do it point by point: 15-0 Forehand winner Seles 30-0 Backhand pass Seles 30-15 Double Fault 30-30 Backhand long Seles 40-30 Dropshot winner Seles Deuce Double Fault Ad-Schwartz Backhand Wide Seles Deuce Backhand into the net Schwartz Ad-Schwartz Forehand return of service winner Schwartz Deuce Backhand winner Seles Ad-Seles 87 MPH Ace up the Tee Backhand winner Seles The crowd erupted as the hometown girl staved off two break points and remained within a game from the set. They cheers quieted as Schwartz then held serve at 15 to make the score 5/5. Seles held easily to keep the set on serve at 6/5. Then it got interesting. Schwartz went down 0/40 on three unforced errors, but saved three set points mainly on Seles unforced errors. The first set would be decided by a tiebreaker. Here is how the tiebreak unfolded: Seles served Forehand Forced Error from Schwartz: 1-0 Seles Volley winner from Seles: 2-0 Seles Backhand long from Seles: 2-1 Seles Forehand winner from Schwartz: 2-2 Backhand winner from Seles: 3-2 Seles Forehand wide from Schwartz: 4-2 Seles Backhand wide from Schwartz: 5-2 Seles Backhand into the net from Seles: 5-3 Seles Forehand into the net from Seles: 5-4 Seles Backhand long from Seles: 5-5 UE on the forehand from Schwartz: 6-5 Seles (set-point #4) Forehand long from Seles: 6-6 Backhand long from Schwartz: 7-6 Seles (set-point #5) Backhand long from Seles: 7-7 Backhand wide from Seles: 8-7 Schwartz Backhand winner from Schwartz: 7/6 (9/7) Schwartz Amazingly Schwartz fought off five set points against one of the most mentally tough players on the Tour. Being down 6/5 0/40 on her serve and coming back to win the set, eerily reminded me of her victory over Venus Williams in the 1999 French Open 4th round. There, it was the exact same situation. With Schwartz taking the first set, the crowd was very shocked, as were my fellow press members. We were discussing amongst ourselves how Seles's serve was just not working today. Many of them were quite upset with King's decision to dismiss Capriati and were anxious to ask her questions in the press room. The second set began with a long service game from Schwartz where she again saved two break points. The players easily held the next two games to bring the score to 2/1 Schwartz. In the next game, Seles reached game point at 40/30 but made a series of unforced errors to give Schwartz the first break of the second set and a 3/1 advantage. Schwartz held for 4/1 and Seles held at love for 4/2. While serving, Schwartz quickly went down 15/40 to face to more break points. Once again, a mixture of Seles errors and Schwartz winners dug her out of the hole for a 5/2 lead. Serving at 5/2, the crowd became rowdy and tried to urge Seles on. This is how that game unfurled: Forced forehand error into the net from Schwartz: 15/0 Backhand winner from Schwartz: 15/15 Forehand winner from Schwartz: 15/30 Forehand winner from Schwartz: 15/40 (double match point) Backhand into the net from Schwartz: 30/40 Backhand winner from Schwartz: Game set and Match Austria 7/6 (9/7) 6/2. In an amazing turn of events with the Capriati dismissal and now the Schwartz’s upset of Seles, the USA had fallen to 0/2 after the first day of play. Everyone was eager to hear what King would have to say about the day’s events and especially the decision to remove Capriati from the team. King was very open, stern, and serious in the press room. She had stated that at the beginning of the week, the rules were clearly explained that players were not to have practices outside the team while playing Fed Cup. According to King, Capriati was made well aware of this rule several times and warned on other occasions of extra practice sessions. Finally, King had enough and dismissed Jennifer from the team. During her interview with the press, I had asked Seles how she felt about the situation. Seles said that she felt the right decision was made because you have to follow the rules and that she, Lisa Raymond, and Meghann Shaughnessy are now the team. Perhaps stunned by the loss to Schwartaz, Seles's eyes were very red as if she had been crying. Seles and King left the interview room and Schwartz was brought in. I asked her about the Venus situation coming back from 0/40 and she said that she didn't think about it until after the match and was amazed by it. She was a very humorous girl - often laughing as she spoke with the press. When asked about the Capriati situation she said that is was good for Austria to already go up 1/0 even before a ball. However, Schwartz did not want to comment further since she did not feel it was right to discuss what the Americans had decided. Barbara was then asked if she had ever played her opponent on Sunday, Meghann Shaughnessy. She said “no” but I informed her that in fact she did play Shaughnessy at the 1999 Australian Open first round winning in straight sets, then losing to Steffi Graf in the 2nd round. She was embarrassed, laughed and hid her head under her hat. Everyone got a good chuckle. Tomorrow, the action will be Seles vs. Fauth and Shaughnessy vs. Schwartz. The doubles will be Shaughnessy and Raymond vs. Schwartz and Marion Maruska. The USA has never come back from a 0/2 deficit, which is what it will try to do tomorrow. |