TENNIS in DEPTH.

Melanie Oudin begins USA’s quest to reach a second successive Final, as she faces Alla Kudryavtseva in the opening rubber of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal in Birmingham, Alabama.

Oudin, who adopts the role as American No. 1 in the absence of the Williams sisters, is ranked nearly 50 places higher than her Russian opponent.

Despite this gap in the world standings, however, the only previous meeting between the two players – coming earlier this year at the Australian Open – ended in a three-set victory for Kudryavtseva.

Dementieva is carrying the weak Russian team on her back, and must win both her singles matches for Russia to have any chance at all. The US has the best doubles team, and needs 2 singles victories to reach the final.

The second rubber sees Bethanie Mattek-Sands take on Elena Dementieva, the world No. 6, in a real ‘David v Goliath’ clash. Mattek-Sands will take confidence from her win over Alize Cornet of France in February’s first round, but playing Dementieva will bring about a completely different challenge.

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