due to the Japanese No. 1 Ai Sugiyama having far fewer experience compared to Pierce and Tauziat. The rubbers began as expected, with Pierce getting France off to a good start to beat Naoko Sawamatsu and Tauziat coming from having a match point against her to defeat Sugiyama in three sets. The tables turned, however, as Pierce was upset in the third rubber by Sugiyama, and Tauziat was taken to an extremely long match against Sawamatsu, that mirrored a match that occurred between the two players at the 1991 French Open. Eventually, Tauziat emerged victorious, 7–5, 4–6, 17–15, in a rubber that remains the longest in the Fed Cup history in terms of games. This, combined with the other singles rubbers and the doubles rubber which Fusai and Sidot won, meant that the tie contained 172 games, which continues as the most in the tournament's history, but also resulted in France being the only semifinalist of the previous two years to win a 1997 tie. In the semifinals, France was drawn against Belgium. The team quickly faced a setback as Pierce was unable to partake in competition due to an arm injury, and Tauziat was rested due to poor form of clay courts. Top 25 player Sandrine Testud, who had recently upset former World No. 1 Monica Seles at Wimbledon, thus made her debut while 57th ranked Fusai was called in the play her first singles matches. The tie went to a doubles decider, with Fusai managing an upset win over Sabine Appelmans, and France won with Fusai and Tauziat finishing the final rubber by winning eight straight games over Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost. This allowed them to progress through to their first ever final, against the Netherlands, which was to be held originally in France, but was later hosted by 's-Hertogenbosch. The Dutch chose to play on carpet, hoping that the French No. 1 and World No. 8 Pierce would have difficulty on the fast surface, but this tactic came to no avail as she easily defeated No. 50 Miriam Oremans after Testud disposed of the Dutch No. 1 and Top 20 player Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in three sets. The Dutch rallied slightly, with Schultz-McCarthy winning over Pierce in three sets and Oremans winning the first set over Testud in only 23 minutes, but Testud came back to take the fourth rubber and the tie for the French,