Saturday, April 21, 2012

Czech Republic a match away from Fed Cup final

Petra Kvitova was down 4-4, 15-40 in the second set of her Fed Cup semifinal rubber against Italy's Sara Errani, and--since Errani had sustained a high level of play throughout the match--it looked as though a third set might be in the making. It was at that point, however, that Kvitova turned on that switch (why can't she always find it?) that causes gasps from spectators. The Czech number 1 won the match 6-4, 6-3 in great form at the end.

Earlier, Lucie Safarova beat an injured Francesca Schiavone 7-6, 6-1. Schiavone's neck injury makes her questionable for the remainder of the semifinal.

In the semifinal played between Russia and Serbia, it was probably easier for Svetlana Kuznetsova to serve out her match against Ana Ivanovic because she didn't realize she was serving for the match. Kuznetsova won 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, and after she hit match point, she remained on the court, waiting for the next shot. Finally, she realized she had won the rubber, and later acknowledged that not knowing she was serving for the match may have been helpful to her.

Russia is now 1-1 with Serbia. Jelena Jankovic defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-3.

Here are some more results:

World Group

Ukraine--0, USA--2
Japan--2, Belgium--0
Spain--1, Slovak Republic--1
Germany--0, Australia--2

World Group II

France--2, Slovenia--0
Switzerland--1, Belarus--1
Sweden--2, Great Britain--0
Argentina--2, China--0

Of interest is the 2-0 first-day defeat of Germany by Australia. The tie is being played in Stuttgart, which means that Samantha Stosur is considerably more relaxed than she would be if she had to play in Australia. She beat Angelique Kerber 7-6, 6-4. Jarmila Gajdosova then defeated Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4. Presumably, on Sunday, Stosur will play Goerges, and Kerber will play Gajdosova.

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