(Adds second rubber and quotes) By Victor Fraile VALENCIA, Spain, April 22 - Anabel Medina
Garrigues doubled Spain's lead over Austria in their Fed Cup
first-round tie, beating Yvonne Meusburger 6-3 7-5 in the second
singles rubber on Saturday. Spain's number one, ranked 102 places above her opponent,
broke early to take the first set with ease. But 22-year-old Meusburger made a match of it in the second
set, with the players trading seven breaks before Medina
Garrigues held her serve to take the second rubber. Earlier debutant Lourdes Dominguez-Lino had overcome
Austria's number one Sybille Bammer 7-6 3-6 6-3 in a marathon
match that lasted over two and a half hours. The Spaniard put in an aggressive display to take a scrappy
first set including six breaks of serve, and fought back from
5-2 down to take the tie break 7-5. The Austrian left-hander came back to take the second set
comfortably as her opponent tired, but was broken in the first
game of the deciding set. Dominguez-Lino held her serve to keep the pressure on Bammer
who was broken again to put the five-times Fed Cup winners
ahead. "I felt the pressure of representing Spain in the second set
but was able to overcome the nerves to play a good third," said
Dominguez-Lino. "One of the keys to the victory was my physical fitness." The winner of the tie will play either France or Italy in
the semi-finals in July. (Writing by Mark Elkington in Madrid)
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