American Hero

(AP Photo)

I apologize for being a day late and a dollar short. But you can blame the rain in southern California for delaying the second day of Fed Cup action between USA and Germany until yesterday. By the time the matches ended, I had to be en route to Boston, where I now sit and throw together this scattered post.

Here's to Ashley Harkleroad, who came into her own once more and led the USA to a 4-1 victory in her Fed Cup debut. I said all I can say about her game and poise and composure in my last post, and it was nice to see her fight through her nerves and close out the tie on serve on her first attempt. Especially against the hot-ticket-of-the-moment in Sabine Lisicki.

For a woman so young, she is a tennis veteran of sorts. What with a marriage a divorce a broken engagement (I'm typing from memory here so if I'm wrong about these personal matters, someone correct me), a retirement from tennis because she couldn't handle the pressure of being America's Next Big Thing on women's side, and her comeback to the tour through challengers as the game seemed to have passed her by and we've got a gritty fighter who showed all that and more in for her team and her country.

Lindsay Davenport bounced back, as expected, and put a 46-minute beatdown on Julia Georges, a last minute substitution of Tatjana Malek who showed she could not handle the stress of Fed Cup. After the final singles rubber, Lindsay and veteran Lisa Raymond but on a brief doubles clinic against Anna-Lena Groenefeld (what the hell ever happened to her?) and Goerges, losing just two game.


(AFP/Getty Images)

Next up for the USA is a trip to Moscow to face Russia who overcame all of Israel in a 4-1 victory.

I watched the reverse singles of the Russia-Isreal tie and the Israeli crowd was back in full force trying to do whatever it could to get their players a victory. But Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze were having none of it.

For her part, AnnaC went practically bonkers out there. But that was her way of telling the crowd to go screw itself.

Vlad corrected my match facts. I hate when I get a fact from a match wrong, because there's really no excuse for that, but I stand by everything else I wrote. In particular, I've seen worse from crowds. That is my perception. I said I wouldn't go there, but I've changed my mind. Consider this a Tuesday Tirade if you must (you hear me, helen w?).

Agree or not, but I consider it worse when your home fans turn on you, boo you, and shout racist slurs at you in the finals of a Tier 1 event virtually in your own backyard as they did against Serena Williams at Indian Wells in 2001. I consider it worse when the French fans act like a lynch mob simply because you are trying to defend your title by beating a desperate and cheating woman in the 2003 Roland Garros semifinal. And lest you think I feel this way only because I'm a fan of Serena, I will point out that the Madrid fans were worse to Tomas Berdych, whom I no fan of, simply because he was beating homeboy Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters in 2006. Tomas had to serve through jeers and hit his groundstrokes through boos. And this was before his infamous finger shush to the crowd after the match, much like the one Sharapova gestured to the Israeli crowd after the first day of the tie in question. Tomas was chastised by fans; Maria, applauded. And who can forget the way the Flushing Meadows fans booed and hissed at a cramping Marcos Baghdatis in the the second round on the 2007 US Open simply because it was Andre Agassi's last Slam event? There's more, but I'll stop. You get my point.

None of the events above were venues where any such fan behavior was expected (well...) or ought to have been tolerated. Davis Cup and Fed Cup remain the only tennis competitions where such roudy and rude fan behavior is part of the attraction of the event. All players know what they're getting into. Know that they have to beat their opponents and the fans. No player expects to be coddled by the opposing team's fans because of what he or she might have gone through off the court during the off-season. This references a fan who suggested the crowd should be ashamed of itself if it knew that AnnaC's family home had been robbed at gunpoint in December. But AnnaC didn't back down from her attackers then. With her life on the line. That experience, which she emerged from physically unscathed, makes what she had to deal with on a tennis court a stroll in the park. Take a look:



Ultimately, how a visiting team deals with hostility can ultimately decide the outcome of a tie. Maria and AnnaC were defiant and antagonistic and it worked for them. Both admitted that the atmosphere motivated them even more to win their matches. Weaker-minded players may have cowered. But not these women. Oh, no. They held their ground, stood strong, and prevailed anyway.

So who, exactly, was harmed by the crowd's behavior?

And lest we also forget, the officials in Davis Cup and Fed Cup have the discretion to give the visiting team points or even games if the crowd's behavior crosses whatever line it needs to cross for the point and game penalties to be given. How often did they use that discretion during this tie?

Mob behavior is just that. If the tie officials don't do their jobs, well, then....

Who Cares About Fed Cup?

Lindsay Davenport does. Which is why her listless and erratic performance against Sabine Lisicki in the first rubber of the USA v. Germany tie today, a match she was certainly favored to win, was difficult to watch.

But that's Fed Cup. Where anything can happen and anything did. Lindsay lost 1-6, 5-7.

For her part, the 18-year-old German making her Fed Cup debut played a great match. She followed up her third-round outing at the Australian Open, complete with an upset over Dinara Safina in the first round, with a great performance on American soil. Her first serve was tough to read, her groundstrokes precise, her attitude on full display. One fan called her a cheerleader. I called her a drill team sergeant. She had Lindsay, who'd never played her before, miffed and on her back foot throughout the entire match.

The teen's biggest weakness was her second serve. She offered up 11 double faults, 4 in the fifth game of the second set when she gave up her only break of the match. But like a drill team sergeant with attitude, she rebounded to win the last five games of the match and leave the veteran American with a bit of egg on her face as she lost her first Fed Cup match in, well... forever.

Ashley Harkleroad cares about Fed Cup, too. After captain Zina Garrison emailed her to tell her she was on the team, she was honored and called her parents right away to tell them of her good fortune.

And she carried herself on-court as if she had no care in the world. In her own Fed Cup debut, she was fearless, poised, composed and precise, picking apart the awkward game of Tatjana Malek with a 6-1, 6-3 rout.

Pebbles, a nickname given her from her Flintstone, Georgia roots, moves so well that even against power players (not that Malek is a power player) she gives herself a chance. But she doesn't just rely on defense. She knows how to construct points and end them. Even at the net if called for. What she lacks in power she makes up for in craft. I've always liked her. And I was reminded today of her few great performances on big stages before her retirement in 2004. Indian Wells was the first place she made her mark, and that tournament rapidly approaches.

But till then, she can remind tennis enthusiasts who she is if she can compete well tomorrow in reverse singles and make Lisicki feel the pressure that Lindsay, almost shockingly, could not.

Maria Sharapova cares about Fed Cup as well. I think. She's never managed to bring herself to play it before, but with the Olympics just around the corner...

Tennis Channel, which is where I was able to watch the USA tie, also aired the Israel vs. Russia tie live in the wee hours of the morning. I never saw anything quite like it.

The tennis itself was unbearable. Against Dinara Safina, Shahar Pe'er lost the first 6 games of the first rubber and won the last 6. Maria Sharapova routed Tzipi Obziler 6-0, 6-4.

But the crowd provided all the drama. Really. They were roudy and clapped and whistled and cheered and booed at all the wrong times. On first serve faults and even while the ball was in play. And they went after Maria like she had robbed their mothers.

But I must say, the Australian Open champion brought it on herself. Yup. She pulled a Justine Henin, circa Australian Open 2004. If you remember the final in which she made an out call on a break point deep in the decisive set against Kim Clijsters and Sandra de Jenken gave her the call on an overall. If you don't remember, well... here it is.



Yes. Maria had her Justine moment. In the second set, fully in control of the match, but beginning to crack a bit as the finish line approached, Maria faced her first break point. After an extended rally, a Sharapova forehand clipped the net cord and landed short in the court. Obziler chased it down and bunted a forehand volley that clipped the back of the line. The Israeli pumped her fist. The crowd erupted.

But Maria made an appeal, index finger up, just like Justine, to the chair umpire, the infamous Mariana Alves of the Serena Williams US Open 2004 quarterfinal debacle. True to form, the disgraceful umpire overruled the call in the midst of all the noise. Deuce. When the crowd figured out what happened, it took a minute, it booed for several more. During the next three points, every time Maria struck a groundstroke, the crowd, in unison, shrieked right along with Maria.

I'd never seen anything like it. And I couldn't stop laughing. Not even after the Isreali captain took the umpire's microphone and told them to cut it out. I mean really. To hear Maria's shriek amplified by the crowd's chorus was one of those unexpected moments I'll never forget.

Some say the crowd was wrong. Perhaps. But it's Fed Cup, so it's to be expected. I've seen worse behavior from crowds in Flushing Meadows and Madrid, but that's a whole other story and we aren't going there right now.

In this situation, I think the crowd wasn't going to give Maria a pass for what it obviously perceived as cheating. Whether it was or not is beside the point. The crowd seemed to think it was and they went after Maria for it.

But Maria didn't care. Don't let the blond hair and blue eyes and femme glamor fool you. She's as butch as a lumberjack and she will cut you. Even eat your babies. Pick and suck her teeth afterwards right to your face. On this day, she pumped her fists, yelled her "C'mons!", never stopped her shrieking and won the match in spite of her "tactics" and the disdain of the fans.

People who make their beds know how to lie in them. Comfortably.

Tomorrow's rubbers ought to be interesting.

Scoreboard

ISRAEL level with RUSSIA 1-1
Venue: Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon, Israel (hard - outdoors)

Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Dinara Safina (RUS) 06 62 62
Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Tzipi Obziler (ISR) 60 64
Shahar Peer (ISR) v Maria Sharapova (RUS)
Tzipi Obziler (ISR) v Dinara Safina (RUS)
Tzipi Obziler/Shahar Peer (ISR) v Anna Chakvetadze/Elena Vesnina (RUS)

USA level with GERMANY 1-1
Venue: La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, CA, USA (hard - outdoors)

Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Lindsay Davenport (USA) 61 75
Ashley Harkleroad (USA) d. Tatjana Malek (GER) 61 63
Lindsay Davenport (USA) v Tatjana Malek (GER)
Ashley Harkleroad (USA) v Sabine Lisicki (GER)
Lisa Raymond/Lindsay Davenport (USA) v Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Julia Georges (GER)

CHINA, P.R. leads FRANCE 2-0
Venue: Beijing International Tennis Centre, Beijing, China, P.R. (hard – indoors)

Na Li (CHN) d. Alize Cornet (FRA) 63 61
Shuai Peng (CHN) d. Virginie Razzano (FRA) 46 63 64
Na Li (CHN) v Virginie Razzano (FRA)
Shuai Peng (CHN) v Alize Cornet (FRA)
Zi Yan/Jie Zheng (CHN) v Nathalie Dechy/Virginie Razzano (FRA)

SPAIN leads ITALY 2-0
Venue: PalaVesuvio, Naples, Italy (hard - indoors)

Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) d. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 76(4) 36 62
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 62 63
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) v Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)
Sara Errani/Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/Carla Suarez-Navarro (ESP)


WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND

UKRAINE level with BELGIUM 1-1
Venue: Palace of Sports "Lokomotiv", Kharkov, Ukraine (clay - indoors)

Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 61 62
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Katerina Bondarenko (UKR) 76(5) 61
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Katerina Bondarenko (UKR) v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
Mariya Koryttseva/Tetyana Perebiynis (UKR) v Tamaryn Hendler/Caroline Maes (BEL)

JAPAN level with CROATIA 1-1
Venue: Beans Dome, Mikishi, Japan (hard - indoors)

Akiko Morigami (JPN) d. Nika Ozegovic (CRO) 26 75 61
Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) d. Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 63 36 63
Akiko Morigami (JPN) v Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO)
Aiko Nakamura (JPN) v Nika Ozegovic (CRO)
Rika Fujiwara/Ayumi Morita (JPN) v Jelena Kostanic Tosic/Ana Vrljic (CRO)

CZECH REPUBLIC level with SLOVAK REPUBLIC 1-1
Venue: Brno Exhibition Centre, Brno, Czech Republic (carpet - indoors)

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Petra Cetkovska (CZE) 75 63
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 75 64
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) v Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Petra Cetkovska (CZE) v Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
Iveta Benesova/Kveta Peschke (CZE) v Dominika Cibulkova/Janette Husarova (SVK)

ARGENTINA level with AUSTRIA 1-1
Venue: Estadio Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, Argentina (clay - outdoors)

Jorgelina Cravero (ARG) d. Yvonne Meusberger (AUT) 76(4) 63
Melanie Klaffner (AUT) d. Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG) 26 63 75
Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG) v Yvonne Meusberger (AUT)
Jorgelina Cravero (ARG) v Melanie Klaffner (AUT)
Maria Irigoyen/Betina Jozami (ARG) v Patricia Mayr/Barbara Schwartz (AUT)

For full coverage, go to the Fed Cup official website.