25 Nov 2004 - Krylatskoe Ice Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Jo Sirman - FRA v ESP France Reaches Fed Cup Final Nathalie Dechy put France into its second successive Fed Cup final on Thursday, giving her country an unbeatable 3-0 lead by defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 63 61 in the first of the reverse single matches in the France v Spain semifinal. It will be France's third Fed Cup final overall, and so far, the nation has always won in the final, lifting the trophy in 1997 and of course last year. The battle between the nations' No. 1 players started close but the challenge from Medina Garrigues gradually fell away as she was unable to make any impression on Dechy. The athletic Frenchwoman wrapped up victory in one hour eight minutes and was congratulated by captain Guy Forget, her teammates and the travelling French fans afterwards. As things stand, it looks as if France will play Russia in the final, and what a mouth-watering prospect that could be. The hosts are 2-0 up against Austria overnight, and that semifinal resumes today at 17:00 local time. The match stayed on level terms until Dechy broke to go 43 ahead in the first set. Medina Garrigues, ranked No. 39, seemed to have raised her game following her loss to Tatiana Golovin on Wednesday, and made the Frenchwoman work for the remainder of the set, forcing her to serve it out for 63. But after losing her serve in the opening game of the second set, Medina Garrigues, who played with her right knee taped, grew increasingly frustrated. Every time she came up with something and found the open spaces, Dechy did something better. The world No. 21 was simply faster round the court and more accurate with her ground strokes. With a second break of serve, Dechy opened up a 3-0 lead, and despite Medina Garrigues reclaiming one of the breaks, her opponent romped to victory by winning the next three games. To the delight of the increasingly noisy French contingent, Dechy set up match point with a backhand volley, and converted with a smash. It marked the second time that Dechy had won the decisive point for her country in Fed Cup. The first time was in Buenos Aires in April 2002, when her defeat of Mariana Diaz-Oliva in the second reverse singles match gave France a first-round victory over Argentina. Spain has a chance to get on the scoreboard in the two remaining dead rubbers, in which Russian-born Tatiana Golovin will play Marta Marrero, a replacement for Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, and Marion Bartoli and Emilie Loit are scheduled to play Marrero and doubles world No. 1 Virginia Ruano Pascual in the doubles. --

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