USTA
NAMES LINDSAY DAVENPORT, VENUS WILLIAMS, CORINA MORARIU AND
MASHONA WASHINGTON TO U.S. FED CUP TEAM TO
FACE RUSSIA IN 2005 FED CUP SEMIFINAL
Winner of July 9-10 Semifinal in Moscow Advances
to Fed Cup Final in September
 The
USTA and U.S. Fed Cup team Captain Zina Garrison
today announced that World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport,
12-time Grand Slam champion Venus
Williams, 2005 Australian Open doubles finalist Corina
Morariu, and Mashona Washington will represent the
United States against defending Fed Cup Champion
Russia in the 2005 Fed Cup World Group I semifinal. The
U.S. will play Russia in this best-of-five match
competition July 9-10 indoors on clay at Olympic
Stadium, the venue that hosted the 2003 Fed Cup final
and semifinals as well as the 1980 Olympic Games. The
winner advances to the Fed Cup final to face France
or Spain, September 17-18.
The
U.S., undefeated in Fed Cup play against the Russians with
a 4-0 record dating back to 1979, will face a
dangerous Russian team that includes World No. 5 Elena
Dementieva, World No. 10 Anastasia Myskina, World No. 32
Dinara Safina and World No. 37 Vera Douchevina. Shamil
Tarpischev will captain the team. The U.S. seeks to win
its first Fed Cup title since 2000.
"Playing
against the reigning Fed Cup champions on their home court
is going to be a tough challenge for our team," said
Garrison. "We have a formidable team that is unified,
squarely focused and committed to our quest to win the
Fed Cup title."
Davenport, 29,
made her Fed Cup debut in 1993 and helped the U.S. win
Fed Cup titles in 1996, 1999 and 2000. She owns
a 31-2 Fed Cup record (25-2 singles, 6-0 doubles) and
has played in 19 Fed Cup ties in her 10 years representing
the U.S., the most of any U.S. Fed Cup team member. Davenport
is a six-time Grand Slam winner (three singles, three doubles)
and is the defending 2004 US Open Series Champion. Davenport's
only Fed Cup appearance against Russia came in the 1999
Fed Cup final where she defeated Elena Dementieva, 6-4,
6-0, and Elena Likhovtseva, 6-4, 6-4.
Williams,
25, the first African-American to earn a No. 1 World ranking,
is the winner of 12 Grand Slam titles including four singles,
six doubles and two mixed doubles titles. Williams
made her Fed Cup debut in 1999 in the semifinal round match
against Italy and helped the U.S. to the Fed Cup title
that year. Williams' overall combined singles and
doubles Fed Cup record is 12-1.
Morariu,
27, will be making her third appearance for the U.S. Fed
Cup team. She is the No. 14 doubles player in the
world and reached the 2005 Australian Open final with Davenport.
In 2001, she won the Australian Open mixed doubles title
with Ellis Ferreira and reached the women's doubles final
with Davenport. In
1999 she won the Wimbledon doubles title with Davenport.
Morariu holds a 1-0 Fed Cup record.
Washington,
29, will make her debut for the U.S. Fed Cup team in Moscow. Washington
reached the third round at Wimbledon this year. In
2004, she broke into the top 50 ranked players.
In
the last match-up between the two nations in the 1999
Fed Cup final, the U.S. defeated Russia, 4-1, to win its
16th Fed Cup title in Stanford, Calif. This will be the
first meeting between the U.S. and Russia on Russian soil. The
U.S. advanced to the Fed Cup semifinal with a victory
over Belgium in April at the Delray Beach Tennis Center
in Delray Beach, Fla. Russia, captained by
Shamil Tarpischev, advanced to the Fed Cup semifinal after
defeating Italy in Brindisi, 4-1.
The
Tennis Channel will broadcast the matches live on Saturday,
July 9 and Sunday, July 10.
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