(April 25, 2010) Doubles will decide it.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to deadlock the United States' Fed Cup semifinal with Russia at 2-2 and set up a dramatic doubles winner-take-all duel at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mattek-Sands and Makarova battled for two hours 34 minutes with Mattek-Sands playing daring, declarative tennis for stretches of the final set to earn her second career Fed Cup singles win.

Now she will get a half hour to rest and recover before partnering World No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber against sixth-ranked Elena Dementieva and Alla Kudryavtseva in the decisive doubles match that will determine which nation hosts defending champion Italy in the November 6-7th Fed Cup fin

Racing around the court as if empowered by some undying energy source embedded in the stripes of her red, white and blue tube socks, Mattek-Sands smacked 16 winners in the third set to score one of the most significant singles victories of her career.

When Makarova's forehand flew by the baseline on match point, Mattek-Sands flung her Wilson racket aside and pumped her fists in excitement. A few moments later, she hopped on top of the court-side bench and exhorted both American teammates and fans to make some noise.

Emotion played a part in Mattek-Sands' third-set surge. She flipped a forehand return winner down the line to break for a 3-1 lead.

Her fast feet were tap dancing near the red Coca-Cola sign on the side of the court as Mattek-Sands uncorked a running forehand winner down the line that plastered astonishment across Makarova's face and brought some fans in the stands to their feet. That stirring shot helped Mattek-Sands earn triple game point. She hit a backhand drop shot to hold for 4-1 and stretched the lead to 5-1.

Determined to make the most of her Fed Cup singles debut, Makarova, who was starting in place of Alla Kudryavtseva, used a forehand net-cord winner to break for 2-5. The 5-foot-11 lefthander held serve for 3-5 and put the pressure squarely back on Mattek-Sands' shoulders.

The drama continued into the final game as Mattek-Sands mis-hit a forehand wide to fall behind 15-30.

"Pump it up, right here!" U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernadez said to Mattek-Sands.

The lanky Russian pushed a forehand return wide and it was 30-all. Mattek-Sands took charge of the next point, firing a forehand down the line and flying forward to drive a forehand volley winner into the corner and gain match point.