Russia In Too Deep Against Americans

The best player in the world--at the moment--probably will be limited to doubles duty in a prestigious international team tennis competition.

Davis Cup revisited?

Not exactly.

There are certain parallels--Pete Sampras and the Davis Cup, Serena Williams and the Fed Cup--but there figures to be no hype, no mystery and no last-minute consultations with neutral doctors this time.

The United States is such an overwhelming favorite against Russia in the Fed Cup final, starting today at Stanford University, that Serena Williams and her brand-new U.S. Open title won’t be needed in singles.

Amazingly, Monica Seles, No. 5 in the world, will be reduced to sitting on the bench with her nine Grand Slam singles titles. Injury or illness, of course, could change things. In the Fed Cup semifinal against Italy, Seles suffered an injury in her opening singles match, and Serena Williams replaced her on the final day.

“It’s difficult for me to have all these great players,” U.S. captain Billie Jean King said Friday. “So the good part is we’ve got the best players in the world. The down part is we have so many great ones, we have so much depth, that in certain situations, they’re not going to play when they deserve to.”

It might as well be the Dream Team vs. Elena, since King has been calling her talented squad the Dream Team, and everyone scheduled to play for Russia is named Elena.

The U.S. has four of the top five players in the world: Lindsay Davenport, No. 2; Venus Williams, No. 3; Serena Williams, No. 4, and Seles.

“I don’t have too much to do with this Dream Team,” King said. “I like high expectations. If you expect it, usually it will happen.”

Playing for Russia are Elena Likhovtseva, No. 17; Elena Dementieva, No. 68, and doubles player Elena Makarova, No. 140. Tatiana Panova is sidelined because of a stomach ailment.

The best-of-five match, two-day competition begins at 1 p.m. Venus Williams, trying to recover from the U.S. Open disappointment, opens against Likhovtseva, followed by Davenport against Dementieva, who is making her Fed Cup debut.

That order is reversed on Sunday--Davenport plays first--and the final match features the Williams sisters against Dementieva and Makarova. Serena Williams is not bothered by the limited role.

“Usually in Fed Cups, they go with the better rankings,” she said. “And both players have actually accomplished a lot more, a little more than I have. So I’m definitely OK with it.”

The wild card will be the youngster Dementieva, who turns 18 next month. Top-ranked Martina Hingis has spoken highly of Dementieva’s abilities, and the 17-year-old Russian reached the third round of the U.S. Open, losing to 16th-seeded Conchita Martinez in three sets.

The last meeting between the two nations was the final in 1990 at Atlanta. The United States defeated the then-Soviet Union, 2-1.

1999 Fed Cup

* When: Today and Sunday

* Where: Stanford University, Palo Alto

* TV: ESPN2, 7:30 tonight (delayed), 6:30 p.m. Sunday (deciding match, delayed)

TODAY’S MATCHES

Order of play for Fed Cup final women’s tennis competition between the United States and Russia (U.S. names first):

Venus Williams vs. Elena Likhovtseva

Lindsay Davenport vs. Elena Dementieva

SUNDAY’S MATCHES

* Lindsay Davenport vs. Elena Likhovtseva

* Venus Williams vs. Elena Dementieva

* Serena Williams/Venus Williams vs Elena Dementieva/Elena Makarova