The USA team was extremely motivated for Day 2 of the Fed Cup tie vs. Austria. The team, along with the crowd, knew that if Meghann Shaughnessy could beat Barbara Schwartz, the USA had a terrific chance of taking this tie.

I arrived on the grounds at 11 AM and watched Shaughnessy's morning practice session. She was hitting her forehands and serve very well and, as usual, Billie Jean King was by her side pumping her up. Shaughnessy practiced until noon and then left as the ticket holders started to enter the stadium.

Match #1: Meghann Shaughnessy vs. Barbara Schwartz

Once again, the stadium was filled with standing room only as the players took the court around 1 PM. The enthusiastic crowd even cheered on Shaughnessy during the warm-up. Schwartz served first and was broken immediately. Shaughnessy held serve easily to go up an early break at 2/0. Schwartz then promptly held serve and broke and held again (after saving 2 break points) to take her first lead at 3/2.

Players both held serve easily - only giving up a few points - until 4/4 in the first with Schwartz serving. Three straight unforced errors from the Austrian followed by a Shaughnessy winner gave the American the break and the chance to serve for the first set at 5/4:

Shaughnessy serving at 5/4:

Backhand long by Schwartz: 15/0 Shaughnessy
107 MPH Service winner: 30/0 Shaughnessy
Forehand into net by Shaughnessy: 30/15
Forehand into net by Shaughnessy: 30/30
Backhand into net by Schwartz: 40/30
Service winner: 6/4, first set to Shaughnessy

The crowd erupted as the house band hit the drum to the chants of "U - S - A -- U - S - A". Schwartz was not playing nearly up to the level of yesterday’s victory over Seles and I thought maybe the partisan crowd had finally gotten to her.

The 2nd set started with Schwartz serving. A series of holds brought the score to 3/3. Schwartz quickly went down three break points with three horrendous errors. A final forehand into the net gave Shaughnessy the supposed decisive break to go up 6/4, 4/3.

However, the Austrian was not out of it yet. Some good serves and a few errors from Schwartz, earned Shaughnessy a point to go up 5/3. However, Shaughnessy hit a backhand wide and a committed few unforced errors to give Schwartz the break back at 4/4.

Schwartz held serve for 5/4. Shaughnessy served to stay in the set. The American went down two set points but fought back with three forehand winners and a service winner to stave off the set points to even the set at 5/5.

Schwartz saved two break points on her next service game, mainly on backhands into the net from Shaughnessy, to go up 6/5. Shaughnessy then quickly held serve to push the second set into a tiebreak.

Tiebreak:
BS serves: forehand wide by MS: 1-0 BS
MS serves: forehand into net by MS: 2-0 BS
MS serves: backhand volley wide by BS: 2-1 BS
BS serves: forehand long by BS: 2-2
BS serves: backhand into net by MS: 3-2 BS
MS serves: backhand winner by BS: 4-2 BS
MS serves: service winner: 4-3 BS
BS serves: backhand wide by BS: 4-4
BS serves: forehand winner by BS: 5-4 BS
MS serves: backhand long by BS: 5-5
MS serves: service winner: 6-5 MS (match point)
BS serves: about a 20 stroke rally where one point a forehand that looked to be out by Schwartz was just in. The crowd erupted with joy and then went crazy in the middle of the point realizing it was not over yet. Shaughnessy then hit a forehand into the net: 6-6
BS serves: backhand long by MS: 7-6 BS (set point #3)
MS serves: backhand into net by BS: 7-7
MS serves: backhand winner by BS: 8-7 BS (set point #4)
BS serves: forehand wide by MS: 9-7 BS

The giant killer was at it again. She was attempting to defeat the unbeatable USA all by herself. The crowd was in utter shock at what was going on. Schwartz called for a medical timeout to receive treatment on an inner right thigh injury. Later, she said, she felt like she had pulled something while reaching for a shot at 5/5 in the second set.

The third set was like watching Ivanisevic vs. Krajicek at Wimbledon. There were only three break points in the entire set (two on Shaughnessy's serve). Many games were won at love with a series of service winners and aces that had excellent placement but low speed. Each game was tension filled as the crowd was cheered Schwartz’s double faults and Shaughnessy’s winners.

Finally at 7/7, Shaughnessy was to serve:

Forehand long by Schwartz: 15/0
Backhand winner by Schwartz: 15/15
Forehand winner by Shaughnessy: 30/15
Forehand into net by Shaughnessy: 30/30
Forehand long by Shaughnessy: 30/40
Backhand long by Shaughnessy: 8/7 Schwartz

Shaughnessy hit three unforced errors in a row to give away the decisive break. The crowd was still in full support of Shaughnessy as she took court to stay in the game. Schwartz serving at 8/7:

Backhand down the line pass by Shaughnessy: 0/15 (crowd goes CRAZY)
Service winner: 15/15
Backhand into net by Schwartz: 15/30 (crowd goes CRAZIER)
Backhand wide by Shaughnessy: 30/30
Forehand long by Schwartz: 30/40 (the crowd is at its peak)
Backhand wide by Shaughnessy: Deuce (a collective groan from not only the crowd but the majority of the press box as well as Shaughnessy totally shanked that backhand).
Service winner: Ad-BS
Backhand winner: Game, set, match and TIE Barbara Schwartz 4/6, 7/6 (7), 9/7 in a most
exciting match.
Schwartz yelled out and with tears in her eyes, her teammates ran out on the court and all had one of the happiest moments of their lives. The crowd gave a respectable applause as the team ran around the court with the red-and-white striped flag. The Austrian team will now go on to face Croatia in July.

Schwartz had done it. She had single-handedly beaten the mighty Americans. The #85 ranked player proved to the crowd at the Olde Providence Racquet Club that she is still a player to be reckoned with.

During the press conferences, Shaughnessy said she played tentatively, particularly on the key points, and that basically cost her the match. On the other hand, Schwartz played brilliantly. Schwartz was repeatedly asked how she felt about beating the Americans. She said over and over again that she did not do it by herself - it was a team effort and ALL of Austria won that match, not just her.

Bille Jean King was interviewed and gave due credit to Schwartz. She had to be told by a USTA official that the USA will now be relegated to qualifying (unheard of for a team with has eight players in the Top 30). She gave a chuckle as she was reminded the last time this occurred to the USA was in 1997 when Navratilova was the coach and King said, "Martina Navratilova was the coach! I have to go tease her (laughing)! No, I'm kidding."

She was asked again about the Capriati situation - that if she had spoken with her and King said she had offered to speak with her but Jennifer did not want to. She was also very unsure of herself whether or not Jennifer would be invited to play on future Fed Cup teams for next year. She said she will have to have time to calm down and reassess the situation.

Match #2: Monica Seles vs. Evelyn Fauth

With Austria already victorious in the tie, the fourth match was mainly for the entertainment of the crowd. It gave Seles a chance to get a desperately needed win under her belt and a Fauth the chance to see how her game stacked up against a big hitter.

Fauth has a spicy attitude and her build and on-court composure reminded me of Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. She's a righty with a one-handed slice backhand, and on one point where she hit the backhand into the net, she mumbled something in Austrian and then shouted out "SLICE!!!!!!!!!" The crowd got a good chuckle out of it.

Other than that, the match was all Seles as she won 6/3, 6/3. The 6 games she lost were all on her errors. She really was not playing that well, and in my opinion, she should have won 6/2, 6/1.

Match #3: Seles/Raymond vs. Maruska/Fauth

A few substitutions were made after the marathon match between Schwartz and Shaughnessy. Seles was brought in for Shaughnessy and Fauth for Schwartz. The stadium only had about 500 people watching this match as I, along with an USTA official, were the only press members there. Raymond and Seles quickly went up 5/0 and almost earned a bagel before the Austrian pair played a good game to get on the scoreboard. The Americans served out the set for 6/1.

The second set had the Americans going up 5/3, but the Austrians, resilient as ever, fought back and led 6/5 in the second set. The Americans were able to take it to a tiebreaker and won 6/1, 7/6 (7/3).

It was official. The Austrians had won 3-2 over the USA. Many people wanted to blame the loss on Billie Jean King for dismissing Jennifer Capriati, but the stellar play and mental toughness from Barbara Schwartz (saving five set points vs. Seles and a match point vs. Shaughnessy) was truly the reason behind Austria’s victory. The USA left with their tails between their legs. They will now play qualifying against a to-be-determined team and date.

One last thing I would like to congratulate the USTA, particularly Bruce Levy and Andre Christopher, on a well run event. Also, all of the volunteers at the event did a great job as well.