LAS VEGAS, NOVEMBER 25: Second-ranked Lindsay Davenport and fourth-rated Monica Seles continued their mastery over Spanish tennis rivals here on Friday to put the United States on the brink of retaining the Fed Cup.Australian Open champion Davenport defeated No. 9 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 after Seles downed No. 5 Conchita Martinez 6-2, 6-3 to give the United States a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five women’s world team finals.To deny the Americans a record 17th title, Spain must sweep Saturday’s schedule, which finds Davenport playing Martinez, Seles facing Sanchez and a concluding doubles match. Martinez is 8-5 against Davenport but has lost four of their past five meetings. Seles is 19-3 against Sanchez, who has beaten her five times in a row since last losing to the Spaniard at the 1998 French Open final.Seles won for the 19th time in 20 matches against Martinez and improved to 12-1 in Cup singles. Davenport has won five of her past seven against Sanchez and is 20-2 in Cup singles with 14 wins in a row since a 1994 loss to Sanchez. After trading early third-set breaks, Davenport took a 5-3 lead when Sanchez netted a forehand. She held to win in 88 minutes when Sanchez hit a forehand long, keeping the Spaniards from leveling the final.Davenport struggled in the second set and felt her sore right calf tighten. But US captain Billie Jean King provided some advice and a confidence boost as the third set began. Nine-time Grand Slam champion won her eighth in a row over Martinez, whose lone victory over Seles was at Stanford in 1997 when Seles’ late father was ill with cancer. AFP ITF alters Fed Cup formatLAS VEGAS: Fed Cup format changes for 2001 will see eight nations gather for a week-long trophy showdown in what will be the only week of play for the world’s top four women’s tennis teams. The International Tennis Federation and marketer ISL announced the changes here Friday. This marks the third year of alterations for the event, whose current system has three first-round winners joining the champion, who no longer will be assured of hosting the finals. Under the new format, the World Group will expand from 13 to 16 nations and be played over three weeks rather than two, with each tie being best-of-five until the final, when the eight survivors will play best-of-three ties. On April 28-29, the lowest eight seeds will meet in a first-round playoff hosted by higher-rated nations. Teams ranked fifth through to eighth will host the first-week winners July 21-22 and those four winners will join the four top-rated teams for the final week. ITF officials said seedings have not yet been made and would not necessarily be based upon this year’s results alone, which would have ensured surprise teams Czech Republic and Belgium automatic finals berths.
