By Erin Bruehl, USTA.com
BRNO, Czech Republic -- They were down 5-2 in the second set and already down one set to love.
Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were trying to put the U.S. in the Fed Cup Final but Kveta Peschke and Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic seemed poised to stand in their way.
But the Americans were not going to let that happen. Huber, the co-world No. 1 doubles player, became angry at herself and emotional for not playing her best tennis in such a big spot.
At 5-2 on Mattek-Sands’ serve, the Americans saved one match point when Peschke hit a return long and then held in the next game. Still needing to break in the next game to stay alive, Huber and Mattek-Sands came up big, forcing the Czech 
team into errors. Then it was 5-all and the Americans seemed to take control.
The two stepped up their level of play, dominated in a second-set tiebreak and felt the match turn in their favor in the third set to win 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 and send the U.S. Fed Cup Team to the final for the first time since 2003 with a final score of 3-2 at Starobrno Rondo Arena.
And it was Fed Cup rookie Alexa Glatch’s dominating 6-2, 6-1 victory in the fourth singles rubber over Petra Kvitova that kept the U.S. alive and sent the tie to the deciding rubber.
The U.S. now will travel to Italy for the 2009 Fed Cup Final November 7-8. Italy defeated Russia 4-1 in the other Fed Cup semifinal.
“I really didn’t think we were going to pull it out. I was not trying get down on myself or my partner or the people. I was angry, I was getting very sad. I cried on the court which I havent done since I was 12,” Huber said. “It is very emotional for me to play for the US and I wasn’t play my best tennis, it was upsetting. But we fed off each other and we felt itinside. Once we could put one point, one foot in front of other then before we knew it was 5-all.”
The Czechs held to go up 6-5, then the Americans held to make it 6-6 and then dominated the tiebreak. After breaking in the second game of the third set to go up 2-0, they could feel the match really turn in their favor.
In the first set, however, it was Peschke, the world No. 7 in doubles, who was dominating. U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez saw what was unfolding on the court and when the pair next came over at a changeover, offered some pivotal advice.
“She is one of the best doubles players in the world and I thought to myself I need to try to play like she is playing, try to play aggressive and look for the middle,” Huber said. “Then Mary Joe gave us some tactics on Peschke to derail her from her good play and then that worked so it seemed like we started playing smarter…I think Mary Joe and I are on the same wavelength and what she said was so right on. I thought, ‘Why wasn’t I doing that?”
For the Czech Team, Peschke knew her and Benesova were dominating the match and tried to stay positive even after the Americans saved match point. But the tide turned in favor of the Americans.
“I’m very disappointed. In the beginning of the match we played very good tennis,” Peschke said. “We were very close to finishing the match. I was very positive (up 5-2 with match point) and I believed that we can make it that even if we couldn’t break Mattek-Sands’ serve that we could then hold ours…(Then) we did not handle the tiebreak well.”
Mattek-Sands played the first singles match on Sunday as well, falling to Lucie Safarova, a substitute for Benesova, 6-3, 6-1. After not playing as well as she would have liked in that match or on Saturday, she was eager to play well in doubles and kept confidence throughout the match.
“We did our best to come back, I never thought we were going to lose,” Mattek-Sands, also a Fed Cup rookie, said. “But we just kept plugging away. I’m so excited. I wasn’t feeling so confident after my singles losses, I didn’t play my best tennis and I felt bad. But I feel better now.”
And before the doubles match, the 19-year-old Glatch stepped up for her country in a big way for the second day in a row and leaves Brno with a perfect 2-0 Fed Cup singles record. Just like on Saturday, she stayed aggressive on each point and was the difference.
“Mary Joe was able to give me a good game plan and I think I executed it pretty well,” Glatch, ranked No. 114, said. “This has been unbelievable. It probably beats anything I have done in tennis before.”
“I tried to play aggressive from the very first point just like yesterday,” she added. “I knew I had to use my slice a bit more and I think I mixed it up well and I was able to keep the returns deep. I was able to mix it up, hitting over it, then slicing it. I think I just kept it out of rhythm and off balance and that was one of the keys of the match.”
In her first year as Fed Cup Captain Fernandez now heads to the final and credited all the players in this tie and the quarterfinal tie against Argentina for helping the U.S. reach the final. But for this tie in Brno, there was no doubting who came up the biggest: Glatch.
“I never thought they were going to lose the doubles,” Fernandez said. “I had that hope, I thought if they could kind of get their teeth into it, we could get it back. Once they got back to 5-all, they became the dominant team and outplayed the Czechs.
“Alexa was the MVP,” she added. “She really brought her best game and I think she has a very bright future. (And) I think we’re building a great Fed Cup Team of the future and it is great that we are winning while we are doing it. I have good feelings about the future of American tennis. We had a different team this week (than against Argentina) and it is everybody (from both ties) contributing. It is the whole year and the whole big picture.”
