 Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 15 Jul 2007 |  Photographer: GEPA
Date: 14 Jul 2007 |
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| 15 Jul 2007 - ATZ Linz, Linz, Austria - Barry Wood - AUT v ISR | |
| Peer leads Israel to historic result |
Shahar Peer notched her 11th successive Fed Cup singles victory to lead Israel to the World Group for the first time when she defeated Yvonne Meusburger 63 61 in 1 hour 11 minutes.
Israel’s 10th successive Fed Cup victory has produced their best Fed Cup result and qualifies the nation for a spot in the eight-team World Group for the first time in the competition's history.
Misfortunate start for Austria team
It was always going to be an uphill struggle for Austria after the team number one, Sybille Bammer, was forced to stand down after suffering a fever. Although 16-year-old Tamira Paszek has enjoyed some excellent results, beating Elena Dementieva and taking a set from Justine Henin this year, it is still too early in her career to expect her to carry the hopes of a nation on her shoulders, and her opening match defeat by Peer on Saturday had immediately set the tone for the weekend.
Similarly, Meusburger had been called upon to perform in a bigger arena than she was accustomed to, and the stress of the occasion led to her suffering a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Tzipi Obziler to leave Israel leading 2-0 overnight.
Peer, then, began as the favourite against Meusburger in the first of the reverse singles. Meusburger had rallied well to little effect against Obziler, and it was the same story against Peer. The Israeli was more powerful and struck some fine forehand winners, with the only shadow being a few missed volleys.
No Pressure for Peer
It was the Austrian who earned the first break to lead 2-1, but that merely inspired Peer, who immediately broke back to love, and in fact Meusburger failed to hold again for the remainder of the match.
Meusburger struggled with her serve, double-faulting to fall behind 4-2, and although Peer then made a forehand volley error to drop her own serve, Meusburger attempted a drop-shot that fell short to give Peer a 5-3 lead. It was a similar story in the second set, with Meusburger’s only consolation a break when she was already down 3-0.
With Israel having the 2-0 lead overnight with victory all but assured, Peer could go into the match without any real pressure. But that, she said, was not really an advantage.
"Actually, I don’t think I played good," said Peer. "But it doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is that you win. I wasn’t nervous at all. That was my problem I think. When I got up off of the chair and played the first point today I told the captain I have no pressure which is not good because then you are so loose."
Youngsters have their day
One of the nice aspects of the Fed Cup is that, when victory has been assured, promising young players can be given an opportunity to taste top-level international competition. So it was that two 17-year-olds, Austria’s Melanie Klaffner and Julia Glushko of Israel, faced each other in the final singles rubber, with Klaffner emerging as a 64 63 winner.
Klaffner then returned with Paszek to take on Obziler and Peer. Playing in a challenging 34 degrees, the Israelis won 63 61 to complete a 4-1 victory.
Both captains look forward to 2008
Reaching the World Group provides deep satisfaction for captain Oded Jacob.
"Definitely it’s history for us," he said. "We have never made it this far and obviously to be in the World Group, in the top eight teams, is something very special for such a small nation. It’s very exciting. We’ve never been there and don’t know what it means, but we’re motivated and inspired and really like to play for our country."
Despite a disappointing defeat, Austria’s captain Alfred Tesar knows he has a team that promises to be a strong contender for the World Group once again next season.
"It was really a shock for our team to lose the number one just the evening before the start," said Tesar. "But I think we can have a strong team with Sybille Bammer and Tamira Paszek. Okay, we have a young team, but we hope for next year. We can have a good future."
Related Links on other websites
> Informationen auf Deutsch - OTV
> Information from the ITA
Related Links on Fedcup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and stats from this tie
> Israel in control in Austria
> Paszek and Peer first up in Linz
Related audio
 Interview with Shahar Peer (ISR)
Interview with Austrian captain Alfred Tesar
Interview with Israel captain Oded Jacob
 
Update media player above.
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