Oudin Puts USA One Win Away

(February 6, 2010) Melanie Oudin's first win over the season moved the United States Fed Cup team to within one victory of its sixth straight semifinal.

The 53rd-ranked Oudin controlled the match from the outset in dispatching Fed Cup débutante Pauline Parmentier, 6-4, 6-4 on the red clay of the 4,850-seat Stade Couvert Regional Lievin, in Lievin, France.

Oudin gave the Americans a 2-0 lead over host France in the best-of-five match Fed Cup World Group first round. Oudin said she was relaxed taking the court with a 1-0 lead thanks to teammate Bethanie Mattek-Sands' opening win.

"Coming on court with a 1-0 lead was a nice feeling but once I was on court all that mattered was my match," Oudin said. "I played a good game and being up 2-0 is great but it’s not over yet."

It was the second straight-sets sweep of the day. U.S. No. 2 singles starter Mattek-Sands rallied from a 2-5 first-set deficit, saving four set points along the way, to defeat Alize Cornet, 7-6(7), 7-5, in the opening match that spanned two hours, three minutes.

It was Mattek-Sands' first career Fed Cup singles win and dropped Cornet to 0-7 in Fed Cup competition.

"I was really proud of both my players," U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said. "Both players kept it together mentally which is what I think made the difference."

The 18-year-old Oudin can clinch an American victory in Sunday's first reverse singles against Cornet. The second reverse singles pits Mattek-Sands against Parmentier. Doubles World No. 1 Liezel Huber and Mattek-Sands are scheduled to face Stephanie Cohen-Aloro and Julie Coin in Sunday's doubles match. Tennis Channel will televise Sunday's matches live starting at 7 a.m. Eastern time.

Winless in two tournaments this year, Oudin came out firing her favored forehand, broke serve early and made the break stand up in taking the first set. She persistently pounded away at Parmentier's weaker backhand wing to earn the first break of the second set. But Parmentier broke for 2-all then held to extend her lead to 3-2.  Parmentier had plenty of opportunities to break again in the second set, but finish just 1 of 9 on break-point chances.

The French woman opened up a 40-0 lead serving at 4-all, but lost her way and a fired-up Oudin battled back to break for 5-4. She served out the match in the next game.

French captain Nicolas Escude tried to accentuate the positive, but admitted missed opportunities can prove costly in Fed Cup.

"We are down 0-2 so it’s frustrating," said Escude, the former French Davis Cup hero. "Both Alize and Pauline had good chances to win their matches, but in Fed Cup when you have chances to kill the match you need to do it."

Should the USA close the tie tomorrow it would face either Serbia or four-time Fred Cup champion Russia in the April 24-25 semifinals.

In a match of the reigning and former Roland Garros champions, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova crushed Ana Ivanovic, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening match before Jelena Jankovic rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Alisa Kleybanova to level the tie for Serbia, 1-1, on hard court at the Belgrade Arena. For the latest live scores, please visit Fed Cup.com.