27 Nov 2004 - Krylatskoe Ice Stadium, Moscow, RUS - Jo Sirman - RUS v FRA Myskina Provides Russian Fightback Anastasia Myskina drew the hosts level at the end of the first day's play in the Fed Cup Final, defeating Tatiana Golovin 64 76(5) in a match that very nearly went to a third set. Golovin took a 3-0 lead in the first set before her more experienced opponent got ahead. In the second set, the French girl recovered from a break down and Myskina had to save four set points serving at 5-6 before the subsequent tiebreak, in which the Roland Garros champion came back from 1-4 down to take the match on her first match point. "I was a bit nervous because I hadn't played Tatiana before, I didn't know what her weaknesses and strong points were,팠Myskina said, and it showed. At times the world No. 3 let out her frustration at her own mistakes, which forced her to work harder for the victory. However her greater maturity and experience in big matches eventually saw her through. With the crowd, and probably Myskina, still reeling from their team's loss in the opening match, Golovin made the first break of the match but the Russian rallied, breaking in the fifth and seventh games. Golovin had four points to draw level in the deciding game of the first set, but Myskina dug deep to win it. In the second set, Myskina took a 4-2 lead, but the Moscow-born Golovin made the most of her opponent's errors to break back for 4-4. As Kuznetsova had in the previous match, Myskina threw her racket on the ground in anger. Golovin won her next service game to love after a catalogue of errors from Myskina, and the Russian missed chances to break in the game after that. Serving at 5-6, Myskina slipped to 0-40 but clawed back to deuce, and then saved another break point with a stunning cross-court volley that clipped the line. When Golovin rushed to 4-1 up in the tiebreak, the match looked to be going the way of the opening singles, in which Dechy had come back from a set behind. But this time Myskina was too strong, winning six of the next seven points and clinching victory when Golovin sent down a long return. "I agree she played good tennis today, but you have to show consistency and not play great tennis just one day a year," said Myskina when asked about her young opponent and the fighting qualities that have catapulted her into the world's top 30 in 2004. She couldn't resist adding, "By the way, she was also born in Russia." Looking ahead to Kuznetsova's match with Golovin in the second singles on Sunday, Myskina said, "I would just advise for Svetlana to keep fighting. It will be tough for a 16-year-old like Tatiana, I don't think she has the character for it yet." "Despite her defeat, Svetlana played great tennis and I think tomorrow everything will be fine for her." A 1-1 scoreline may not be what the Russians had expected, but the hosts are publicly keeping their cool. Had they perhaps expected two easy wins on the first day? "The fact that they [the French] were not favourites had nothing to do with the fact that they played well and with more confidence," said Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev. With Kuznetsova badly shaken from her loss to Dechy, Tarpischev thinks, "She will either play a really great match tomorrow or really badly." Sunday's matches are now crucial as France bids to win its second successive Fed Cup title and Russia battles to lift the trophy for the first time. Play gets underway at 13:00 local time, with two reverse singles matches and the doubles match on the schedule. Player nominations can still be changed ahead of the matches. 2 --

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