>>Tennis Headlines

U.S. ready for Belgium, eyeing Russian semifinal

By Charles Bricker | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted April 21 2007

DELRAY BEACH No one connected with the U.S. team is going to publicly make the mistake of looking past this weekend's mismatched Fed Cup matchup against Belgium, but privately there has been a lot of thinking about a U.S.-Russia semifinal in Stowe, Vt., in July.

The dream is lineups that include Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

Nothing is going to be finalized until after the Americans eliminate Belgium's stripped-down team of No. 132 Kirsten Flipkens and No. 227 Caroline Maes, and Stowe might not even be the venue.

But there's enough quiet discussion about partnering with a major development company in Vermont and the rapid construction of a 5,000-seat stadium by the USTA to make Stowe sound like a front-runner.

First, however, the Williams sisters need to notch three wins today and Sunday while Russia, hosting Spain, wins with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova, both top 10s, on red clay indoors in Moscow.

If that happens as expected, then the next step would be to convince the Williams sisters to come back for the next round, July 14-15, and get Sharapova to play as well.

There's been a lot of talk this week about why Fed Cup continues to be one of the most under-publicized major women's pro sports events in the world. A U.S.-Russia matchup would go a long way toward giving the competition a higher profile in the United States.

The USTA first configured the Delray Beach Tennis Center for 3,000 customers, and may have trouble reaching that. Three days ago they offered $10 seats in part of the east side upper deck, which had been cordoned off.

Matches begin today with Venus Williams playing Flipkens. They'll play the reverse singles Sunday, with a fifth-match doubles with Lisa Raymond, No. 1 on the WTA Tour, pairing with Vania King of Long Beach, Calif., against teenagers Yanina Wickmayer and Tamaryn Hendler.

Though she's never played a regular WTA tour event, Hendler, 14, is the most interesting player on a Belgian team that does not have either world No. 1 Justine Henin or No. 4 Kim Clijsters, both of whom are focused on the clay court season.

Hendler, 14, is the youngest girl among the top 50 on the ITF world junior rankings at No. 22 and a semifinalist in the girls 18s at last year's Eddie Herr Tournament in Bradenton.

She trains with Nick Bollettieri in Bradenton.

Maes, who has virtually no experience in main draw WTA tournaments, is playing Williams for the first time.

"I'm used to playing Challenger tournaments," she said. "I'm going to try to have fun. It will be a great experience for me."

Serena said she knew next to nothing about Maes, but she's not going to change her game for the No. 227 player.

"It just boils down to me having confidence in me, and I couldn't have any more right now," she said.

Serena Williams and Flipkens will play the opening match Sunday, and assuming that's the clinching victory, it wouldn't be surprising to see Hendler play the dead rubber fourth singles. King probably would play that singles for the United States.