Austria vs. USA, Fed Cup - Day 1 Report
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.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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