Italy won its first Fed Cup title Sunday, beating Belgium 3-2 after Justine Henin-Hardenne retired with an knee injury during the deciding doubles match.
The French Open champion won both her singles matches this weekend despite several health complaints, but she was forced to abandon the final in the third set of the decisive doubles when a knee muscle gave way.
The Italian duo of Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci led the Henin-Hardenne and Kirsten Flipkens 3-6, 6-2, 2-0 when she was suddenly forced to stop.
”I could not stay on court for another point,” Henin-Hardenne said. ”It was like a ball blasted me at the back of the knee.”
It was the second major final this year in which she was forced to pull out. At the Australian Open, she retired with a stomach bug against Amelie Mauresmo.
It left the 26-year-old Schiavone, who has yet to win a WTA event, as the star of the Italian team. Despite losing to Henin-Hardenne earlier on Sunday, she also beat Flipkens on Saturday and was a strong force in the doubles.
She said Italy was on a roll and would have won with or without the Henin-Hardenne injury.
”We were playing much better,” Schiavone said. ”I feel we could win anyway.”
Schiavone was hugged and mobbed by teammates and coaches while the Belgians gathered in a tearful embrace.
”It is not the way we like to win. I am very sorry because she is a great champion,” Italy coach Corrado Barazzutti said of Henin-Hardenne. ”But we really fought very hard throughout the tournament.”
Italy won in France, with Schiavone beating Mauresmo, and Spain on the way to the final.
Belgium captain Carl Maes didn’t hide behind Henin-Hardenne’s withdrawal.
”The best team won, even if it is an anticlimax,” Maes said.
”They had the four best players.”
Belgium was already hurt by the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, the world’s fourth-ranked player. If she and Henin-Hardenne were healthy, Belgium would have looked unbeatable on the indoor hardcourt of the 6 000-capacity Spiroudome.
Instead, Maes had to rely on Flipkens, ranked just 98th in the world. She lost all three of her matches and never impressed.
Even ahead of the doubles, Henin-Hardenne already feared for the worst.
”I have no option but to play,” Henin-Hardenne said, knowing the Belgians would stand no chance without her.
At the time, it was only a chronic cartilage pain which hurt her right knee, but she suspects her back knee muscle overcompensated for the pain.
A weakened Henin-Hardenne had given Belgium a 2-1 lead with 6-4, 7-5 win over Schiavone in the first reverse singles match, but Mara Santangelo thrived in her Fed Cup singles debut, beating Flipkens 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0 to put Italy level at 2-2.
”Mara opened the door for us,” Barazzutti said. ”She knew that if she loses, the team loses.”
It set the scene for a spectacular doubles finale.
The Belgians had played just one doubles each this year, both losses. Schiavone had reached the semifinals of the US Open and Vinci is a doubles specialist.
With fast and spectacular play, it quickly looked that one break would be enough in the first set, and the spirited Belgian got the breakthrough when Vinci double-faulted to give the hosts a 5-3 lead. With momentum and Adrenalin, fatigue was a distant memory.
Henin-Hardenne, dominating Flipkens throughout, served out the first set.
With the raucous crowd cheering the home team, little could happen. Even when Henin-Hardenne faced two breakpoints early in the second set, she served herself out of them. Flipkens, however, could not hold on to her serve and the Italians came back one last time.
They took the second set 6-2.
Belgium’s undoing came early in the third set, trailing 0-40 on her serve, Henin-Hardenne went to the sidelines and had her heavy bandage undone. After a long massage, she returned but when she lost her game, she called it quits to the dismay of the crowd at the Spiroudome.
”I hope it will not affect the rest of my season,” Henin-Hardenne said.
She said reclaiming the top ranking was her main goal in the coming months. After losing the finals in Australia, the United States and at Wimbledon, she hoped it would boost her confidence ahead of next year.
Now, the rest of the season was up in the air.
”I hate that,” she said. – Sapa-AP