With its ever-changing array of formats and locations, Federation Cup has become the much-maligned and neglected little sister of its male contemporary, the Davis Cup. That?s why it was both a relief and a surprise to see such a large and excited crowd turn out for the quarterfinal tie between the United States and Italy, which was hosted at Rock Creek State Park in Washington, DC.

As a recently transplanted New Yorker who goes to the US Open on a regular basis, I was very pleased to see that thousands of fans attended the event, at the site where the Legg Mason ATP tournament regularly draws a spectacular crowd. Given the spotty history of the Fed Cup and its acceptance by tennis aficionados (Americans in particular), I would not have been surprised to have seen more Italians supporting their azzurri than Americans coming out to support their national women?s tennis team in the nation?s capital. But even with the last-minute withdrawal of two of the most marketable names in women?s tennis, Venus Williams and Monica Seles, the event seemed to be a smashing success.

Spurred on by a hyperactive lite jazz combo in the corner of the stadium, leading chants and whipping the spectators into a frenzy by jamming during changeovers, the crowd was nothing less than rambunctious, and helped to propel the Americans to a 5-0 whitewash of the Italians. In the first match on Saturday, Meghann Shaughnessy, the number 18 player in the world out of Arizona, took on Francesca Schiavone, world ranked 32. Schiavone, whom Zina Garrison calls a player with "a lot of energy [and] a lot of drama," found herself in the awkward position of leading the Italian team, having only one previous Fed Cup tie under her belt. Schiavone said "playing Fed Cup makes my heart go," and then mimed a rapid pace with her hand, so it was no wonder that she played a sub-par first set for the Italians. Shaughnessy?s rapid-fire groundstrokes and powerful serve, which often neared 120 MPH, allowed her to take the opening set with ease, by a score of 6-3.

It looked like more of the same in the second set, as Shaughnessy raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set, thanks to more spotty play from Schiavone and more superlative serving from Shaughnessy. Meghann?s play showed that she was very excited to move away from the European circuit of the past couple months, and get back to her finest surface, hardcourt, which earlier in the year gave her quarterfinal finishes at the Australian Open and the NASDAQ-100 Open (beating then-World #2 Venus Williams along the way ). But Schiavone was able to save a match point on her serve, and then break the Shaughnessy serve for 3-5.

A young girl cheered "Don?t give up, Meghann," to peals of laughter from the crowd, but it looked as if she was clairvoyant. Francesca once again staved off match points - this time two - on her own serve, as she survived a contentious game to hold for 5-4. Shaughnessy lost her cool, swearing after a particularly rough call went against her on game point Schiavone. But during the changeover, Shaughnessy regrouped, with a little help from jumpy captain Billie Jean King, and coolly served out the mat ch for a 6-3 6-4 victory.

Meghann was asked what had made this match more difficult than the other matches she had played against Schiavone (with respective scorelines of 6-1 6-1 and 6-2 6-1). Her reply was that "this time, I didn?t close it out at 5-1." Schiavone was ruing the fact that she was unable to beat the United States? #2 singles player. "One day I can go out and beat anybody," she presumed, and then, looking the press corps in the face, continued, "and then the next day I can lose to one of you guys."

The second match featured the highest-ranked player on the grounds, world #8 Chanda Rubin, taking on 58th-ranked Italian Rita Grande. Both have won titles on the WTA Tour this year, but the fifty-spot difference in their placements was evident from nearly the word "go."

Grande tried to blunt Chanda?s powerful forehand by employing her usual arsenal of slices and low-pace shots. While this was effective during the opening stages, as she was able to force errors from Rubin to get to 3-3, eventually Rubin started moving forward, and pouncing on every short ball she could. She would run out the set from then on, winning it 6-3.

A slight lapse in concentration, to which Rubin admitted, let Grande break her en route to a 2-0 lead in the second set. But the hope that Grande could push the match into a third set quickly faded as she immediately gave back her next service game, and from then on, Chanda attacked the net at every possibility, powering her way through the final games. Though Grande at times came up with a very nice passing shot, and Rubin didn?t look as infallible as she can when she is totally on, the result was inevit able, and the final score was in favor of the American by the line of 6-3 6-3.

Italian captain Corrado Barazzutti felt his team did well on the first day, though he surmised that it could have been better had they played on another surface, "like clay." Rita Grande, seated next to him, laughed out loud, and said "For sure!" At this point it looked as if the Americans would not have any trouble closing out the Italians before the doubles, if not in three straight matches.

Skepticism, however, could be attributed to the fact that the third match was the battle of the number one players for each team, and Francesca Schiavone was playing better than Rita Grande, while Chanda Rubin had looked more sloppy than Meghann Shaughnessy. The Italians went into the first match of the second day thinking that an upset was possible and that the American momentum could easily be brought to a halt with a win. "From the start," said Schiavone, "I know that I can beat a lot of players; also Chanda."

It certainly looked that way in the opening set. Schiavone came out blazing, catching Rubin off guard with numerous aces and service winners. "I shouldn?t have been as surprised today when I saw it," said Rubin. "She served well yesterday [as well]." The game plan for the Americans was to pick on Schiavone?s one-handed backhand, and while the shot isn?t as mellifluous as Justine Henin-Hardenne?s or as weighty as Amelie Mauresmo?s, it did its job in the first set, as Schiavone would repeatedly shock Rubin with down-the-line winners from her less consistent side. Rubin was able to blast her rocket forehand to save set points on her serve at 4-5, but her first serve percentage was repugnant, and after Schiavone literally roared after pounding an ace to go up 6-5, took advantage of Rubin?s service woes to close out the second set by 7 games to 5.

It was the first set the Americans had lost in the tie, and the crowd, which was as raucous as it had been on Saturday, were moved to silence. Rubin was clearly shaken up, and at the first change of ends of the second set, Rubin made a perfunctory stop at her chair to grab water, but quickly moved to the service line while captain King was still yelling instructions to no avail. Rubin was still hitting copious winners off of her forehand, and Schiavone?s serve began to fail her while her backhand started flying, as expected. But Rubin repeatedly whacked second service returns into the net or long, to the groans of the crowd. Still, Rubin began to find the range on her own serve, and at 4-4 finally found a break of serve. At this point, both girls were hitting to each other?s backhands, with some extraordinary rallies in the mix. But, more often than not, Schiavone would mishit one of those backhands wide, or stupidly change it up by hitting to the forehand, which Rubin would put away. Schiavone did find a way to hold a break point for 5-5, but Rubin held on and closed the set out, 6-4. Schiavone capitulated after that, and Rubin won the match and clinched the tie for the Americans with a 5-7 6-4 6-0 victory.

"[Francesca and Rita] are two tough competitors," said Rubin after the match. "But, in the end, I feel like as a team...we?re better than they are." Billie Jean King gave all the credit to her players. "The coach doesn?t make the players, the players make the coach."

In the dead rubbers, Meghann Shaughnessy held on to beat Rita Grande, 7-5 6-3, while Alexandra Stevenson finally got to play her first Fed Cup match, teaming with Lisa Raymond to win the doubles and give the United States the 5-0 win.