Keys earns U.S. 1-1 tie with France
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Madison Keys beat Alize Cornet in three sets on Saturday to earn the United States a 1-1 tie with France after two matches of their best-of-five Fed Cup World Group playoff.
Keys, 19, battled back after dropping the first set to knock off Cornet 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, in a match that went nearly three hours.
Earlier, 21-year-old Sloane Stephens lost the first match to 20-year-old Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2 to give France the first match at Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
All four players will be back in action Sunday in reverse singles matches, with Keys playing Garcia and Stephens going against Cornet, who won last week's event in Katowice, Poland.
A doubles match between Americans Christina McHale and Lauren Davis, and the French pairing of Virginie Razzano and Claire Feuerstein will be used as a tiebreaker if necessary.
The winning country will rejoin the Fed Cup World Group next year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The 17-time Fed Cup champion Americans are looking to extended their all-time record against France to 12-1. France's only win in the series came in the 2003 final, with current captain and former world No. 1 star Amelie Mauresmo leading the way.
The U.S. team is captained by Mary Joe Fernandez.