at No. 6. For 2003, France was drawn against Colombia in the first round; a match anticipated to be a clear French victory since the two highest ranked Frenchwomen (Mauresmo and Dechy) were over forty-five places higher than the top Colombian (Fabiola Zuluaga), who was also the only Colombian in the top two hundred. Nevertheless, Forget and Mauresmo were becoming increasingly frustrated with the seeming lack of success of the team since 1997, making a victory key for team morale. The team started off well, accumulating a 2–0 advantage with Dechy removing Zuluaga and Mauresmo winning by default as Catalina Castaño retired due to dehydration, before France sealed the win as Mauresmo, despite citing her game as needing improvements, beat Zuluaga in straight sets. They had a daunting next round, however, against the ITF No. 2 team Spain. Mauresmo, who had been struggling with a rib injury, skipped Wimbledon to prepare for the tie. This paid against the Spanish, weakened by the absence of Conchita Martínez and the recent retirement of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, as they dominated in the singles ties to advance to the semifinals with Russia. Pierce returned to the team, having embarked on a small comeback in recent months, joining Mauresmo in playing singles. Despite Russia having four Top 15 players in Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Nadia Petrova and Vera Zvonareva, No. 4 Mauresmo easily defeated Zvonareva, 6–2, 6–2, to get off the French to a fantastic start. Pierce dropped a match point to be defeated in the second rubber by Myskina, but the two Frenchwomen eventually beat the Russians in the next two matches to advance to their first final since their 1997 victory. The French played the United States in the final, only a few days after the semifinals, with Pierce and Mauresmo once again leading in singles; Pierce in particular receiving praise for her performance. Despite the newfound presence of unbeaten Fed Cup player and multiple major champion Martina Navratilova, the American team was missing many of its top singles players, meaning the French team had a good chance to succeed. This was fulfilled, with Mauresmo thrashing 30-year-old Lisa Raymond in straight sets, and Pierce outlasting Meghann Shaughnessy, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6. Mauresmo then sealed the victory, beating Shaughnessy, 6–2, 6–1, Émilie Loit completed a singles clean sweep with a defeat of Alexandra Stevenson. Americans Navratilova and Raymond then teamed to take the doubles rubber.