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WASHINGTON - With her player choking, Billie Jean King had to do some serious coaching.
From her courtside seat, King settled Meghann Shaughnessy's nerves before the collapse turned to defeat. Shaughnessy won on her sixth match point, opening the Fed Cup quarterfinals with a victory as the United States took a 2-0 lead over Italy on Saturday.
"I just told her she has to accept responsibility - it doesn't matter if you're choking out of your wazoo or whatever," King said. "You've got to accept it and find a way to get through it. Even if it's ugly, just find a way."
Shaughnessy nearly blew a 5-1 second-set lead before holding off Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4. Chanda Rubin followed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Rita Grande, putting the American one win from advancing in the best-of-five competition.
Rubin plays Schiavone and Shaughnessy plays Grande in the reverse singles today, followed by Rubin and Lisa Raymond vs. Tathiana Garbin and Antonella Serra-Zanetti in the doubles. The winner plays the Belgium-Slovakia winner in the semifinals in November.
Shaughnessy had 13 straight points on her serve and outhustled her opponent, but she became tentative as her second-set lead shrank from 5-1 to 5-4. She hit four unforced errors on match points before Schiavone's long forehand ended the 32nd-ranked Italian's valiant comeback attempt.
"Being Fed Cup, I definitely had a few more nerves out there with me today," Shaughnessy said. "So I'm just really happy that I pulled it through."
- French Open finalists Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters gave Belgium a 2-0 lead over defending Fed Cup champion Slovakia in Charleroi, Belgium.
Henin-Hardenne beat Janette Husarova 7-5, 6-4 in the opening match.
"I was a little nervous in front of the home crowd, but the important thing is that I won," the third-ranked Henin-Hardenne said. "She served really well and put up a fight."
Clijsters, ranked No.2 behind Serena Williams, defeated 19-year-old Fed Cup rookie Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-3, 6-1.
- Amelie Mauresmo and Nathalie Dechy won singles matches, leading France to a 2-0 lead over Spain in Oviedo, Spain.
Mauresmo downed Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-3, 6-3, and Dechy defeated Magui Serna 6-3, 6-4. Mauresmo, who pulled out of Wimbledon with an injury, was playing for the first time in a month.
The winner meets Russia or Slovenia in the semifinals.
- Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva won in straight sets as Russia took a 2-0 lead against Slovenia in Portoroz, Slovenia .
Myskina beat Maja Matevzic 6-4, 6-1, and Dementieva topped Katarina Srebotnik 6-1, 6-3.
"I didn't expect such an easy match," Dementieva said.
MERCEDES CUP: Guillermo Coria and Tommy Robredo will meet in the final in Stuttgart, Germany. Coria defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-0. Robredo was ahead 6-2, 4-1 when Fernando Gonzalez withdrew because of stomach pain.
DUTCH OPEN: Raemon Sluiter and Nicolas Massu, who have won one ATP Tour title between them, reached the final in Amersfoort, Netherlands. Sluiter beat Albert Montanes 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-3, while Massu advanced when Luis Horna quit with a right thigh injury while trailing 6-3, 4-0.
DAVENPORT OUT: A left foot injury forced Lindsay Davenport to withdraw from the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif. It begins Monday.