U.S. Leads Fed Cup

Shaking off the effects of a month-long bout with the flu, Mary Joe Fernandez braved the searing heat and gave the United States a 2-0 lead in its best-of-5 Federation Cup quarterfinal tie against Austria.

The 12th-ranked Fernandez, who hasn’t played a singles match since winning the Evert Cup on March 6, dispatched Barbara Schett 6-2, 6-4 after Amy Frazier, making her debut on the U.S. Fed Cup team, overcame her jitters and defeated Austria’s Judith Wiesner 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The pairings will be reversed today with Fernandez facing Wiesner, to be followed by Frazier-Schett. Fernandez is 5-1 against Weisner.

Martina Navratilova and Gigi Fernandez will finish up the two-day competition when they take on Wiesner and Petra Schwarz-Ritter in the concluding doubles.