TENNIS in DEPTH.

The United States reached the Fed Cup final for the first time since 2003, beating the Czech Republic 3-2 on Sunday with Liezel Huber and Bethanie-Mattek-Sands winning the decisive doubles match.

Huber and Mattek-Sands beat Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 on the indoor hard court in Rondo Arena.

The Americans will play in the Nov. 7-8 final against Italy, which beat defending champion Russia.

Earlier, American teenager Alexa Glatch kept the United States in the best-of-five series by beating Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1. In the first reverse singles match of the day, Lucie Safarona defeated Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-1.

The Czech team broke Mattek-Sands’ serve twice in the first set of the doubles, and then broke Huber twice in the second to lead 3-1. The Americans, however, saved a match point at 5-2 and fought back to level the set at 5-5 before forcing the tiebreaker.

In the final set, Benesova was broken in the second game and sixth game before Huber served out the match, converting the second match point.

The 32-year-old Huber, who previously competed for South Africa, was playing for the United States for the third time. She won her doubles matches against Russia and Argentina.

Glatch, at 19 playing in the Fed Cup for the first time, won her second singles match of the weekend by beating Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1.

Glatch broke Kvitova twice in the opening set to lead 5-1 and converted her first set point when the Czech double-faulted in the eighth game. Glatch, ranked 114th, continued to dominate in the second set, breaking her 48th-ranked opponent in the second and fourth games before serving out the match.

“This has been unbelievable,” Glatch said. “I played well overall. I really don’t know how I’m doing it.”

Glatch said her two Fed Cup wins were “definitely the most important” in her career.

“This is one of the few times in my life I’m playing on a team,” she said. “It beats anything I’ve done in tennis before.”

I just hope that Mary Joe Fernandez and the USA Fed cup committee sticks with this successful team, and any suggestion that the Williams sisters be included in the final to ensure a victory is met with a resounding response in the negative.

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19 year old rookie Alexa Glatch breezed past Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1, to give the USA a legitimate shot at advancing into the final of the 2009 Fed Cup. Playing more like a veteran than a rookie, Alexa fired 6 aces in a confident win over her Czech opponent. It was her second impressive win in her debut appearance in the Fed Cup giving up just a total of 6 games in her two matches. The final outcome comes down to the 5th rubber that will feature Leizel Huber of the US, and whoever Mary Joe Fernadez sends out to be her partner. Huber is the highest ranked doubles player in the field with a wealth of experience that should be enough to carry the USA to victory.

If they win they will meet the winners of the Russia/Italy tie.

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Rookie Alexa Glatch upset Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2 Saturday to give the United States a 1-1 tie with the Czech Republic after the opening singles of the Fed Cup semifinals.

Petra Kvitova defeated American Bethanie-Mattek-Sands 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the first match on the indoor hard court at Rondo Arena.

Glatch, playing her debut match for the U.S. team, dominated the first set and broke the 29th-ranked Benesova in the second and fourth game to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

“I tried to be pretty aggressive on returns,” Glatch said. “It’s key for me to be aggressive and take my chances.”

Glatch, ranked 114th, broke Benesova in the opening game of the second as the favored Czech struggled throughout the match. Glatch broke again in the seventh game and clinched the win in only 56 minutes when Benesova’s return hit the net.

Benesova, who is 3-9 in Fed Cup, said she may give up her spot for future matches.

“I’m struggling in the Fed Cup,” she said. “I play like I’m No.500, and that’s not enough.”

“The ankle was not a problem,” she said. “I was just nervous at the beginning. I was trying to focus on my game and that worked.”

The 19-year-old Kvitova broke her opponent for a 3-1 lead in the first set when Mattek-Sands double-faulted, and then again in the ninth game to take the set.

The 39th-ranked Mattek-Sands, who was also making her Fed Cup debut, fought back in the second and broke Kvitova in the seventh game. But she failed to serve out the set as Kvitova rallied from 3-5 down to force a tiebreaker.

“I should have held my serve,” Mattek-Sands. “I didn’t play well today. She came with great shots and I didn’t know how to respond.”

In the tiebreaker, Kvitova relied on her solid serve to take a 5-0 lead. She improved her record to 4-1 in Fed Cup singles.

“When I leveled the score for 5-5, I knew it’s going to be a fight,” the 48th-ranked Kvitova said. “I’m glad I didn’t give it up and fought to the end.”

Reverse singles and the doubles are scheduled for Sunday. The winner of the series will face Russia or Italy in the Nov. 7-8 final.

The U.S. has won a record 17 Fed Cup titles but its last victory came in 2000.

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Francesca Schiavone yet again saved her best tennis for Fed Cup as she stormed back to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova 16 62 63 and put Italy on the brink of a third Fed Cup final in four years.

Despite losing the first set, Schiavone hung in to prevail in just under two and a half hours.

Earlier teammate Flavia Pennetta gave Italy a 1-0 lead in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal clash with Russia in Castellaneta Marina by overwhelming Anna Chakvetadze 64 60 to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Pennetta needed only 67 minutes to defeat her opponent, dropping only nine points in a one-sided second set.

Russia is now in danger of losing just its second Fed Cup tie in the last five years. To stay on course for a third title, it must become only the fourth nation to come back from 0-2 down in Fed Cup.

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Fernando Verdasco finished on a high note with a win for Spain in The Davis Cup in 2008, but who did he beat? Then he capped of his Davis Cup win with a show of confidence at the 2009 Australian Open with victories over Tsonga and Murray before losing out to Nadal in the best semi final match he ever played.

His ranking jumped up to place him in the top ten. But since then his performance has be less than spectacular. He is currently ranked at#7, due in part to the inconsistent performance of Giles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He took off a month to nurse an injured left foot, returning to Indian Wells where he lost to Roger Federer 3-6, 5-7 in the quarter final.

At the Sony Ericsson in Miami he was humiliated by Andy Murray 1-6, 2-6. Next up was a switch to clay in Monte Carlo where he went down to Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, followed by a trip to his home town where he lost to Fernando Gonzalez 3-6, 6-4, 4-6.

He has not beaten a top ten player since the Aussie Open, and has played poorly and inconsistently. He starts slowly in almost every match and tries to come from behind. His service is erratic and his forehand, considered by many to be among the best on the tour, has not been effective. I have lost count of the number of times he has thrown his racquet down in frustration, or the number of times he has raised his arms in despair as if appealing to the crowd for sympathy.

Unlike Roger Federer, who may be the epitome of self discipline, Verdasco is not capable of producing his best tennis without a coach. His Davis Cup play was in part a result of the team coaching and support he received in Argentine.

If he has aspirations of climbing higher or staying in the top echelon of ATP players, then he needs to hire the services of a qualified coach.

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The ITF regrets and respectfully disagrees with the decision of Tennis Australia to default its upcoming Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group I third round tie against India, scheduled to be played in Chennai on 8-10 May.

By virtue of its decision not to send a team to compete against India, Australia has forfeited the tie. India is declared the winner and will advance to the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs, scheduled for 18-20 September. The draw for the Play-off Round will be held on 12 May at the ITF Offices in Roehampton.

The ITF, as it does for every Davis Cup and Fed Cup tie, asked the host nation to produce a comprehensive security plan for the tie. Tennis Australia received the completed security questionnaire from the All India Tennis Association; however, because of the specific concerns of Tennis Australia, the ITF also asked its independent security consultants, the Olive Group, to make a site visit to Chennai to investigate both the situation on the ground and to assess the security arrangements put in place by AITA.

Following the site visit, the Olive Group reported that it was satisfied that the tie could go ahead as planned. Tennis Australia received a copy of the Olive Group report. This, and other information related to the tie, was presented to the Davis Cup Committee, who voted that the tie should proceed in Chennai. Following an appeal by Tennis Australia, the ITF Board of Directors voted to uphold the decision of the Davis Cup Committee, after having received complete documentation for review.

The Davis Cup Committee in due course will decide any sanctions to be assessed against Australia according to the Regulations of the 2009 Competition.

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Tennis Australia made its decision after the International Tennis Federation rejected an appeal to move the tie set for 8-10 May out of India.

“It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk,” said Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard.

Australia could now be banned from the Davis Cup for a year or face a fine.

The decision angered Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald, who believes the ITF should have followed the move to switch the Indian Premier League cricket tournament to South Africa because of increased safety concerns during the Indian election.

“It is just irresponsible. Surely some thought must be given to the players’ safety,” he said.

“I believe they say the election is not a cause for concern, the IPL moving is not relevant and that an ATP tournament held in January shows it is safe to play in Chennai.

“So what about the fact that dozens of people are being killed along the campaign trail of the election? A train was hijacked this week, but that does not alter their thoughts? Did the IPL move for no reason?

“The ATP event involved no national teams and was held three months prior to the election. This decision makes no sense.

“We have worked so hard to get back in to World Group contention, to have it snatched away like this is gut-wrenching.”

The International Tennis Federation based its decision to reject Australia’s appeal on a security report that it had commissioned, while the All India Tennis Association had always been confident the tie could go ahead.

“The location and venue was previously approved following a positive report from the ITF’s security consultants,” said an ITF statement.

Tennis Australia’s security concerns followed March’s attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan.

The attack in Lahore in March wounded seven Sri Lankan cricketers, while six policemen and a driver were killed.

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