REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy -- When Mary Joe Fernandez graduated from Miami's Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart as a straight-A student in 1989, she knew tennis would be part of her immediate future.

At 38, retired from the WTA Tour in 2000 after reaching three Grand Slam finals, winning two Olympic gold medals in doubles, the 1992 Olympic bronze medal in singles and seven singles and 17 doubles titles, it turns out her life still revolves around the sport she loves.

``Coming from Miami, well let's just say it was a great place to be a tennis player starting with the weather,'' said Fernandez, who as a youngster won four prestigious Orange Bowl junior titles in Miami, winning the 18s title as a 14-year-old. ``There's so many events, so many great junior programs and camps in Miami. That all contributed to me becoming a player.''

Retirement has not slowed life down for Fernandez, who probably is busier now than during her playing days. She made her Fed Cup captain debut this year, is a long-time ESPN analyst and is mom to Isabella, 8, and Nicholas, 5.

BIG WEEKEND

Amazingly, despite being disappointed by Serena and Venus Williams not playing in all three Fed Cup weekends this year, Fernandez has managed to turn lemons into lemonade by guiding a neophyte team to the Fed Cup final this weekend against Italy.

``It's been so nice working with the younger generation coming up, and having success right away has been a bonus,'' Fernandez said. ``They're all sponges; they all want to learn, and they all want to get better. To see it all evolve and at the same time still have results is pretty amazing.''

Instead of arriving in Reggio Calabria, a seaside town overlooking Sicily in the south of Italy, with a dream team, including the Williams sisters, she again is hoping to inspire the best from an enthusiastic squad.

Melanie Oudin, the recent U.S. Open quarterfinalist, Alexa Glatch, Vania King and world No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber will take on a formidable Italian squad of Flavia Penetta, Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.

Though the United States is the record-winning nation in Fed Cup competition with 17 titles, its last victory was in 2000, and its last final appearance was in 2003. In contrast, the Italians have been in three of the past four finals, winning in 2006. Fernandez, however, always the sort to keep the faith, is still unwilling to write off the Williams sisters as far as Fed Cup is concerned.

``The goal is to develop a new generation,'' Fernandez said. ``You look at the history of the Williams sisters, and they haven't played that much Fed Cup. However, you're ultimate goal is to win. Hopefully, they'll show up one day.''

Fernandez credits personal Fed Cup memories -- she was on the 1996 championship team against Spain -- as what lured her to the captaincy. That, as well as the constant opinion of Billie Jean King, her former Fed Cup captain, that she had all the right ingredients to guide a team.

``As a player it was one of my favorite events to play,'' Fernandez said. ``Looking back it's kind of ironic that my favorite events to play were team competitions rather than individual ones. Billie Jean was so inspirational and motivational. She told me a long time ago, `You'd be a really good Fed Cup captain one day.' I learned so much from her, and if I can pass along just a little bit of what she gave me, it would be great.''

IN A TOUGHER ROLE

Fernandez, who was 16-10 in 18 Fed Cup outings as a player, is quite clear that being the captain is a tougher role than playing.

``There's a lot more to take into consideration as the captain,'' Fernandez said. ``As a player you're really worried about yourself, how you're doing physically and mentally, and how you're going to approach your match. As the captain, you have to see how the team meshes, who works well with whom, who needs more talk, who need less talk. It's more complicated to figure out who needs what, that's the beauty and challenge of it, and I love it.''

Married to Tony Godsick, a sports agent who counts Roger Federer among his celebrated clients, Fernandez still is working on coping with the frigid weather in Cleveland where the family is based. And she openly admits to relishing the opportunity to spend as much time as possible at the family's Key Biscayne apartment.

``I totally miss Miami,'' Fernandez said. ``I'm a Miami girl forever.''

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