Experience helps lift Spaniards

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000 | 10:18 a.m.

Fed Cup

Who: United States vs. Belgium. Winner meets Spain in best-of-5 format Friday and Saturday.

Where: Mandalay Bay hotel-casino

Today's schedule: U.S. vs. Belgium, 4:30 p.m. Best-of-3 format

Tickets: Individual tickets are priced at $15, $35, $55 and $75 and can be purchased at the Mandalay Bay Theatre Box Office or by calling (877) 632-7400.

TV: ESPN2 (Ch. 31). Delayed coverage from 10 p.m.-midnight.

If you add the number of years Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Conchita Martinez have represented their nation in Fed Cup, you get 25.

That number is eight more than the age of Sanchez-Vicario's opponent, Daniela "Daja" Bedanova of the Czech Republic, and equals the age of Martinez's foe, Kveta Hrdlickova.

And while it's true the Sanex/WTA Tour has been dominated by teenagers, on this night the steady hands of the veterans prevailed to give Spain a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic in Tuesday's semifinal tie at the Mandalay Bay Events Center before an estimated 1,000.

Sanchez-Vicario managed a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory and Martinez pulled off a gritty 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 6-4 win to give the Spaniards the clinching second win.

"I'm very happy that we are in another Fed Cup final," Martinez said after her two-hour, 34-minute battle. "This is a great record for Spain and this is great.

"It was such a fight and I didn't see very clearly in the third set down 3-0 and 4-2. I was trying to be aggressive myself and trying to move her around, because she was playing very comfortable. That's why she was hitting winners so I just tried to make her move around more."

Spain will play the winner of today's tie between the U.S. and Belgium in a best-of-five finals that will be played Friday and Saturday. This will mark the ninth time Spain has reached the finals of Fed Cup and in each of those times Martinez and Sanchez-Vicario have been on the team.

The victory improved Martinez's Fed Cup singles record to 41-12 and Sanchez-Vicario's to 43-17.

Following Martinez's singles match victory, the doubles team of Bedanova and Hrdlickova defeated Magui Serna and Virginia Ruano-Pasqual 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a dead rubber match.

Hrdlickova, playing in the eighth Fed Cup singles rubber match of her career, used her powerful return off both sides to keep Martinez off balance for most of the match, but was defeated by her extremely aggressive style of play.

She went for winners and drop shots when they weren't necessary -- looking like a genius when they went in and a loose cannon when they landed a few feet outside the lines or straight into the net. For the match Hrdlickova made 42 winners and 57 unforced errors to Martinez's 26 winners and 27 unforced errors.

"You get frustrated against her," Martinez said. "You kind of have to fight and hang in there and make sure you are aggressive too and make her make the mistakes.

"It's tough to get into a rhythm playing against her."

After winning the first set, Martinez broke Hrdlickova to take a 5-3 lead in the second set. While serving for the match, however, Martinez lost the game at love when she nailed a backhand slice into the net to make it 5-4.

The two held serve the following games to make it 6-6 and Hrdlickova won six straight points after trailing 1-2 in the tiebreaker to force a third set.

"It really bothered me losing that second set, but it's not that I was playing bad, she just hit good, you know," Martinez said. "She went for it and hit winners, but I'm happy that I came back.

"I was very motivated today because it's hard to be motivated for such a long year, but we have a great team and such a positive spirit, it's tough to give up."

Sanchez-Vicario had a much easier time with 17-year-old Bedanova, who showed why she is the next great Czech hope.

The feisty Spaniard lost an early lead in the first set and committed numerous unforced errors, allowing Bedanova to win it 7-5.

Sanchez-Vicario regained her composure in the second set and had no trouble closing out the match.

"I think I knew it was going to be tough because she is playing very well," Sanchez-Vicario said. "Definitely she hits the ball really well.

"I think maybe I should have won the first set, but I let her come back and missed a lot of shots. After winning the second, that gave me a lot of confidence and I was playing the way I should have played from the beginning."

Bedanova, competing in her first Fed Cup singles rubber, was undaunted by the experience of playing against Sanchez-Vicario.

In the third set she tried to disrupt Sanchez-Vicario by approaching the net more often.

"I played really well today," Bedanova said. "I played really good tennis.

"I thought today was a good day. I think I felt pretty good in the third set, just some points didn't go so well."