U.S. Women Lead Netherlands 2-0
The United States, spearheaded by top-10 players Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles, took a commanding 2-0 lead over an overmatched Netherlands squad Saturday in the best-of-five Fed Cup first-round pairing.
With the U.S. looking to avenge last year's shocking first-round loss to the Netherlands, Davenport continued her remarkable success in Fed Cup competition by disposing of 200th-ranked Amanda Hopmans, 6-4, 6-1. Seles pushed the Netherlands to the brink of elimination by crushing 53rd-ranked Miriam Oremans, 6-1, 6-2.
Davenport will look for the clincher Sunday when she faces Oremans and Seles will go against Hopmans. In the final match, Mary Joe Fernandez, competing for the first time this year, and Lisa Raymond will team up to face the Dutch tandem of Caroline Vis and Manon Bollegraf in doubles.
Davenport, who was not chosen to play on the team that lost to the Netherlands last year, improved to 20-2 lifetime in Fed Cup play. The highest-ranked American player in women's tennis, Davenport has been a member of the U.S. Fed Cup team since 1994 and played on the 1996 title-winning team.
Currently ranked seventh in the world, Seles made her Fed Cup debut in 1996 and went undefeated in four matches as the U.S. stormed to victory over Spain in the final. She has competed in just three tournaments this season as her father, Karolj, continues to battle cancer.
Earlier Saturday, France, playing without fifth-ranked Mary Pierce, began defense of its Fed Cup title by splitting its two singles matches with host Belgium in Gent. Sandrine Testud, ranked 13th in the world, gave France the early lead by dispatching Sabine Appelmans, 6-3, 6-2. But 14th-ranked Dominique van Roost evened the series by rallying past Fed Cup newcomer Sarah Pitkowski, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
On Sunday, Testud will meet van Roost and Pitkowski will battle Appelmans before Nathalie Tauziat and Alexandra Fusai face the Belgian duo of Laurence Courtois and Els Callens in doubles.
Prior to the weekend match, French coach Yannick Noah told Pierce she need not play against Belgium after France's top-ranked player requested a waiver for the early training sessions.
He then sidelined the 30-year-old Tauziat, still ranked 12th in the world, preferring to rely on the youthful vigor of 22-year-old Pitkowski
In Brno, Switzerland and the host Czech Republic used their top guns to post singles triumphs. Third-ranked Jana Novotna gave the Czech Republic the early lead by holding off Patty Schnyder, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. However, top-ranked Martina Hingis, whose mother, Melanie Molitor, is captaining the Swiss team, leveled the series by crushing Adriana Gersi, 6-2, 6-1.
"It was a little like I was playing at home, I was a bit nervous at first," Hingis said.
Hingis, who will visit her grandmother in nearby Roznov after the competition, emigrated to Switzerland with her mother, Swiss coach Melanie Molitor, in 1987.
Novotna looked anything but at home i the first set, failing to settle on her serve and missing several easy volleys. But she quickly found her touch in the second set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before taking the set.
The players followed serve in the final set until Schnyder, ranked 18th in the world, double faulted on break point in the eighth game to give Novotna the edge.
The veteran Czech, 29, made no mistake with the opportunity, closing out the match with a love game.
"I was a little passive at the beginning, I don't really like playing lefthanders. But I was more relaxed in the second set and began hitting the ball the way I should," Novotna said.
On Sunday, Novotna and Hingis will do battle for the first time since last year's Wimbledon final and Gersi will meet Schnyder. In doubles, Novotna and Ludmila Richterova will take on Hingis and Schnyder.
In the final first-round matchup, four-time champion Spain and host Germany, playing without injured Steffi Graf and Anke Huber, are even at one match apiece in Saarbrucken.
Spain had the early advantage when Magui Serna got past Andrea Glass, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3. But 102nd-ranked Jana Kandarr evened the series by shocking Spanish Fed Cup veteran Conchita Martinez, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, only her 13th loss in 64 lifetime Fed Cup matches.
Sunday's slate will have Glass taking on Martinez and Kandarr battling Serna. The German tandem of Meike Babel and Wiltrud Probst will face Martinez and Virginia Ruano-Pascual in doubles.
In the July 25-26 semifinals, the Germany-Spain winner faces either the United States or the Netherlands, and the Czech-Swiss winner plays Belgium or France.
In World Group II, Russia took a 2-0 lead in Australia and Italy and Austria were even at 1-1.
© 1998 SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved