Korea. 1990–1997: re-ascendance and first victory Isabelle Demongeot and the French singles No. 1 Nathalie Tauziat were joined by 1988 French Open girls' singles winner and French No. 2 (and Top 50 player) Julie Halard and Franco-American fifteen-year-old Mary Pierce for the 1990 edition. This new team began spectacularly well, beating Chinese Taipei while only dropping on average four games a match and managing an easy revenge of New Zealand. They fell to Spain in the next round, with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario securing the tie by defeating Tauziat in a match with a very close first set, but their run to the third round was their best since 1984. France's opportunities grew as their players fortunes increased. Tauziat won her first WTA title in singles in Bayonne, and her first WTA Tier II title in doubles in Brighton, while Pierce accumulated both singles and doubles titles in Palermo. However, this did not translate into success for the team in 1991; they suffered a massive upset defeat at the hands of Poland, who had not won a Federation Cup World Group match since 1974, mainly due to No. 170 singles player Katarzyna Nowak's shock victory over Tauziat. This set France back to the World Group Play-offs, but they quickly regained form by easily beating Yugoslavia, who were being forced to play their World No. 828 Ljudmila Pavlov due to the absence of No. 1 Monica Seles. This allowed the French to play in the 1992 World Group, with their new returning captain Philippe Duxin. Pierce, who had recently won two additional singles titles in Italy, played alongside the continuing French No. 1 Tauziat and Demongeot, who after winning several WTA doubles titles became the French doubles No. 1. The team managed to defeat China in the first round, despite Li Fang managing to upset Tauziat in three sets, and CIS easily in the second round. The team's semifinal drought continued though when they were beaten by the United States in the quarterfinals in spite of Tauziat winning over Lori McNeil, mainly due to the singles and doubles prowess of Gigi Fernández. Françoise Dürr returned as captain, but the team suffered a blow just prior to the 1993 competition as Pierce, who had become France's highest-ranking player, withdrew due to personal reasons; she was replaced by Top 50 player Pascale Paradis-Mangon. Nevertheless, France managed to reach their third quarterfinal in four years,