Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
Somewhere back in the disco age, Jimmy Connors defeated Australian star John Newcombe in the first of Connors' heavily hyped, winner-take-all (which in reality meant "winner-take-most") "Heavyweight Tennis" exhibition matches in Las Vegas. Bill Riordan, Connors' irascible loose cannon of a manager, managed to keep a straight face as he reported that the first words out of Jimbo's mouth after the match were: "Get me Laver!"
Riordan knew a good line when he stumbled on one, whether someone actually said it or he just thought it up. But that's history, and when it comes to Fed Cup tennis, which pretty much slipped by unnoticed this weekend, the words on every WTA warrior princess's lips probably are: Get me France!
Connors theoretically wanted Laver because the Rocket was, if no longer the best player on the planet at the time, certainly the most famous. Women pros have a slightly different motivation: France is talent-laden and driven by star power, but it's a Fed Cup patsy. This was demonstrated again over the weekend by that ultimate Fed Cup antipatsy, Italy.
Italy threw a shutout against France (which had home-field advantage in the city of Orleans). The only other team to sweep was mighty Russia, engaged with a so-so squad from China. The key difference is that the Russians sent out the heavy cannons -- Elena Dementieva, No. 4 in the world, recent Grand Slam semifinalist and the winner of the singles gold medal a few months ago at the Beijing Olympic Games; the other Russian singles player was former Grand Slam champ and perennial WTA top-fiver Svetlana Kuznetsova.
By contrast, whom did Italy pop into the breach to face Amelie Mauresmo, former world No. 1 and multiple Grand Slam winner, and Alize Cornet, who's just 19, already ranked No. 14 and coming off a fine Australian Open performance? It was world No. 38 Francesca Schiavone, who has won exactly one WTA singles title in a dozen years, and Flavia Pennetta, who has spent 11 years trying (unsuccessfully) to crack the top 10 but at least has six titles to show for her labors.
Once again, though, the Italians won, and you get the feeling that it was mostly on the wings of that inchoate advantage, team spirit. This kind of thing has happened before: In the 2006 final, Italy upset Belgium (led by Justine Henin, the now-retired icon) and -- lookie here -- along the way to that miracle finish, the Italians took out a strong French club (anchored by Mauresmo).
We could write volumes about the eerie inability of the French to perform up to par when playing at home on the red clay of Roland Garros or in Davis or Fed Cup (in all fairness, the men come closer to holding their own), but that would take away from the accomplishments of Schiavone and Pennetta. The former is 17-13 overall in Fed Cup, while Pennetta is 10-3 (all but one of those wins in singles). Mauresmo is 29-11 (but 1-2 versus Schiavone and 1-1 against Pennetta). Cornet, a Fed Cup newbie, has a perfect record: She's winless in four attempts.
If the Italian women keep going like this, we may see a Schiavone and Pennetta gourmet deli opening in New York. Or maybe the folks at Ferrari will introduce a new model: The Pennetta.
Peter Bodo
