Venus Williams said that she feels even more ‘jolly’ than usual now that she is back playing as part of the United States Fed Cup team, and after she levelled matters against Slovenia in Saturday’s second rubber, it is easy to see why. Williams was in devastating form as she brushed aside Slovenian number two Katerina Srebotnik 61 62 to bring the tie level after Tin Pisnik had given the home side an early lead. Encouraged by the 1-0 scoreline, the crowd here in Portoroz were clearly expecting Srebotnik to roll over Williams to really put the cat among the pigeons, but the former World No. 1 was in no mood to let that happen. She racked up a 5-0 lead in double-quick time and it was all Srebotnik could do just to get a game on the board. The second set was more competitive, but Williams was always in charge. “I’m very proud for the team, for all the effort that we gave, and I’m proud of Lisa too because she really battled out there,” said Williams. “I’m very excited about starting out tomorrow – I really want to go out there and play really well and continue the play that I did today and hopefully give my team a lead.” Slovenian captain Mima Jausovec had ruffled a few feathers in the American team yesterday when she visibly celebrated the fact that her number one player Tina Pisnik had been drawn to meet United States number two Lisa Raymond in the opening rubber. Apparently, she had good reason to do so. Pisnik, 31st in the WTA rankings, defeated Raymond 75 64 to send the packed home support wild, and really make a match of this Fed Cup first round tie. “It was an unbelievable feeling, that was what we were hoping for and our dream came true” said Pisnik, who will play Venus in the first match tomorrow. “I don’t get opportunities to play top players every day so to play Venus at home, on clay, with heavy balls, I think I have a good chance. I’ll go out there, give it my best, and hopefully we will get a good result like today.” Under heavy, grey skies with rain falling intermittently, the conditions were perfect for Pisnik. She started like a train, reeling off the first three games of the match to establish an early lead, but Raymond found her range and broke back to narrow the deficit to 3-2. It didn’t last however, and when Pisnik broke again for a 5-2 lead, she looked to have the set in her pocket. Raymond had promised to fight for every ball beforehand though, and she was good to her word, again breaking the Pisnik serve to level the set at 5 games all. At that point, Raymond’s nerves seemed to fail somewhat as Pisnik’s resolve strengthened. The Slovenian held to lead 6-5, and then, with her backhand slice cleaning the baseline on more than one occasion, she broke to take the set 7-5. The second set followed a similarly topsy-turvy story. Pisnik established the early break and then lost it, but she always seemed the more confident of the two players on the slow red clay, and she broke the American’s serve again to take the match and a 1-0 lead for Slovenia. With the reverse singles and the doubles to come on Sunday, it is still anyone’s match. --

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