Vermont Victory
In July, Russia reached the final of tennis' Fed Cup for the third time in four years, defeating the U.S. team 3-2 on its home turf, in Stowe, Vermont. Coach Shamil Tarpischev, who was coaching his 100th team tennis match (he also captains the Russian Davis Cup team), struggled with visa problems, barely arriving at the match before it began, but nonetheless set a powerful lineup. The U.S. had Venus Williams (straight from her Wimbeldom victory), but none of the other U.S. players offered serious competition. After Williams won both her singles matches, the semifinal came down to the doubles rubber, where Nadya Petrova and Yelena Vesnina played like a smoothly oiled machine, defeating Venus Williams and Lisa Raymond 7:5, 7:6. Russia will now take on Italy (which defeated France) in Moscow on September 15-16. "We will have a better chance against Italy," Tarpishchev said, "than we had against the United States."
Good luck in Moscow September 15-16!
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