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Martina`s heroics not enough to save US from French slaughter
Moscow, Nov 25: Martina Navratilova wrote another page in tennis history here Sunday when she maintained her unbeaten record in Fed Cup notching up her 39th win - 28 years after she first played the women`s team event.
Moscow, Nov 25: Martina Navratilova wrote another page in tennis history here Sunday when she maintained her unbeaten record in Fed Cup notching up her 39th win - 28 years
after she first played the women's team event.
Navratilova, 47, and Lisa Raymond crushed French duo Emilie Loit and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in 48 minutes, with the 6-4, 6-0 scoreline doing little to indicate that the veteran first played Fed Cup before either Loit, 24, or Cohen-Aloro, 20, were born.
But the victory was too late to save the US team who were prevented from taking their 18th title, with France winning 4-1.
Amelie Mauresmo capped a return to form by claiming the decisive match over Meghann Shaughnessy, giving French an unbeatable 3-0 lead.
The world number four, who had looked close to quitting the game last year after a series of career-threatening injuries, took one hour to see off the top American here 6-2, 6-1.
Loit then saw off Alexandra Stevenson in 54 minutes to put France 4-0 up. But for Navratilova and Raymond, the most powerful tennis nation would have suffered an embarrassing whitewash.
The French last won the women's team trophy in 1997 against the Netherlands, and the win here was even sweeter as it came at the expense of the United States whom they had never beaten before after ten previous meetings.
Bureau Report
Navratilova, 47, and Lisa Raymond crushed French duo Emilie Loit and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in 48 minutes, with the 6-4, 6-0 scoreline doing little to indicate that the veteran first played Fed Cup before either Loit, 24, or Cohen-Aloro, 20, were born.
But the victory was too late to save the US team who were prevented from taking their 18th title, with France winning 4-1.
Amelie Mauresmo capped a return to form by claiming the decisive match over Meghann Shaughnessy, giving French an unbeatable 3-0 lead.
The world number four, who had looked close to quitting the game last year after a series of career-threatening injuries, took one hour to see off the top American here 6-2, 6-1.
Loit then saw off Alexandra Stevenson in 54 minutes to put France 4-0 up. But for Navratilova and Raymond, the most powerful tennis nation would have suffered an embarrassing whitewash.
The French last won the women's team trophy in 1997 against the Netherlands, and the win here was even sweeter as it came at the expense of the United States whom they had never beaten before after ten previous meetings.
Bureau Report