4 Nov 2004 - Krylatskoe Ice Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Jo Sirman First Blood to the French Making her Fed Cup singles debut, Tatiana Golovin defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 63 63 to make it 1-0 to France after the opening match of the nation's semifinal clash with Spain. The 16-year-old Golovin is making her first trip back to Moscow since leaving Russia at eight months old. She recovered from a poor start, in which she went 1-3 down to Medina Garrigues in the opening set, to gradually become more dominant and prevail in just over an hour and a half. Golovin had been promoted to France No. 2 singles player in the absence of the injured Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo, and rewarded the faith placed in her by captain Guy Forget. She had only previously played one Fed Cup match in doubles, losing with Mary Pierce to Italy's Tathiana Garbin and Roberta Vinci in April this year. Medina Garrigues came onto the court at the Krylatskoe Ice Stadium the better player, breaking her young French opponent in the opening game and stretching to a 3-1 lead. But once Golovin levelled for 3-3, her confidence grew, and she broke the Spaniard to love two games later and then served out, winning the set with a blistering crosscourt return that was smack on the line. The first half of the second set was a nervous affair with neither player holding serve for the first five games, but it was Golovin who did so first, taking a 4-2 lead. Despite some fierce resistance from Medina Garrigues in the penultimate game, the French player kept ahead, and broke again in the final game to clinch the set and the match. France's loyal band of supporters has followed the team to Moscow and they cheered Golovin all the way to what could prove to be a crucial victory. "I think I was excited most of all and happy to be here, and bring the first point to France," Golovin said. "Obviously nervous, it was my first time, but we had Guy and the supporters, so it was really exciting to play." Golovin also spoke about how it felt to be back in her country of birth. "I haven't had much time to visit but it feels good to be back where I was born. But it also feels like another country, and I'm just focussing on Fed Cup." "I started very nervous and I think all through the match I was nervous," said Medina Garrigues, "because this competition is my business. If you play for your country you want to win." Nathalie Dechy has the psychological advantage going into the second singles match with Maria Sanchez Lorenzo. The reverse singles and doubles in the France v Spain semifinal will take place tomorrow, Thursday. At 17:00 local time today the first two matches in the Russia v Austria semifinal will be played. --

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