Mattek-Sands Stakes USA To Lead

(February 6, 2010) Facing a 2-5 deficit against Alize Cornet in today's opening Fed Cup match, Bethanie Mattek-Sands could see the first set slipping away. Then she reversed course with a variety of spins and a sustained dose of forward thinking.

The 140th-ranked American saved four set points in fighting back to conquer Cornet, 7-6(7), 7-5 in today's two hour, three-minute opening match on the red clay of the 4,850-seat Stade Couvert Regional Lievin in Lievin, France.

Mattek-Sands staked the USA to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five match Fed Cup World Group first-round tie. 

World No. 53 Melanie Oudin meets France's Pauline Parmentier in today's second singles match. In tomorrow's reverse singles, Oudin will play Cornet for the first time followed by Mattek-Sands against Parmentier. The doubles match pits World No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber and Mattek-Sands against Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Julie Coin. Tennis Channel will telecast Sunday's action live starting at 7 a.m. Eastern time.

Cornet rallied from a 0-2 deficit to reel off five consecutive games. She built a 5-2 first-set lead and had triple-set point on Mattek-Sands' serve, but was playing too close to the lines could not close.  Those missed opportunities would haunt Cornet.

The 20-year-old from Nice has been stricken by her share of nerves in past Fed Cup matches — Cornet took the court with an 0-6 record lifetime in Fed Cup competition — and Cornet's inability to finish points combined with Mattek-Sands' willingness to take risk and play aggressive tennis turned the match around.

Throughout her career, Mattek-Sands has enjoyed more success in doubles  than singles. She's comfortable around the net and has fine feel. Mattek-Sands, who won 12 of 14 trips to net compared to 1 of 3 net points for Cornet, used her all-court skills to seize the tie breaker.

Staring down a set point at 6-7 in the breaker, Mattek-Sands kicked in a second serve then surprised Cornet in sliding a backhand drop shot to draw the Frenchwoman forward before driving a backhand pass down the line to level at 7-all.

As American captain Mary Joe Fernandez yelled "every point!" in encouraging focus from her charge, Mattek-Sands dug in.

The Cornet forehand is a more complicated shot than her more compact backhand. She takes a bigger back swing on the forehand side which can create some timing issues. Cornet missed the mark on an inside-out forehand to hand Mattek-Sands a set point. On the next point, Cornet's forehand let her down again as she hooked a crosscourt forehand wide, giving Mattek-Sands the opening set.

Two years ago, Cornet won the first-set tie breaker against Mattek-Sands and went on to score a straight-sets victory at the US Open, a loss that left Mattek-Sands in tears. This time, it was the American holding her nerve more effectively in the first set breaker.

Mattek-Sands exploited the Cornet forehand on pivotal points and the disparity in their forehands was apparent for much of the match: Mattek-Sands produced 12 forehand winners compared to one for Cornet, who typically hits that shot with a western grip and sometimes struggles to get her racket beneath the low ball.

As French captain Nicolas Escude offered encouragement, Cornet broke to start the second set and was up 40-15 in the second game,  but Mattek-Sands drew even at deuce. Cornet missed the lines on successive forehands to hand the break back.

Mattek-Sands again victimized Cornet with the drop shot, hitting a fine forehand drop volley from two steps inside the service line followed by an angled backhand drop shot to hold after deuce for 2-1.

Continuing to step inside the baseline, Mattek-Sands imposed an impressive love hold for a 4-3 lead. Cornet quickly held for 4-all.

Playing the short-angle forehand effectively, Mattek-Sands used the width of the court well to hold at 15 for 5-4. Mattek-Sands pounded down an overhead to go up 15-30 in the 10th game. On the 17th shot of the ensuing rally, Mattek-Sands sent a crosscourt forehand wide. It was 30-all and she was two points from victory.

Sizing up a second serve, Mattek-Sands swatted her forehand return into the middle of the net. An inside-out forehand found the top of the net and Cornet held for 5-all.

Mattek-Sands was down 15-30 in the 11th game, but benefited when a Cornet  backhand return clanged into the top of the tape. A startling McEnroe-esque backhand drop volley on the full stretch brought Mattek-Sands to game point and she held for 6-5 firing a forehand winner down the line.

Cornet netted a forehand pass to fall to 0-30-all. A wild backhand wide gave Mattek-Sands triple match point. Cornet saved the first when Mattek-Sands' backhand floated long and fought off the second when Mattek-Sands hesitated en route to net and was caught in no man's land.

On the third match point, Mattek-Sands blocked back a forehand return and Cornet's fragile forehand broke down a final time to end the two hour, three-minute encounter.

The winner of the USA-France tie will take on either four-time Fed Cup champion Russia or Serbia in the April 24-25 semifinals.