THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Petra Kvitova saved a match point before clinching victory for defending champion Czech Republic over Australia in the Fed Cup first round series on Sunday.
Kvitova rallied to overcome Samantha Stosur 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a matchup of top-10 players to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-0 lead on an indoor hardcourt at the CEZ Arena.
"It was a very good game," Kvitova said. "One of my best of the season. I am really satisfied."
On Saturday, the eighth-ranked Kvitova, who has won just three of her seven matches this year on the WTA tour, beat Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the opening singles.
The Czechs will face Italy or the United States in the semifinals in April.
Kvitova converted her first match point with one of her 39 winners.
But she also double-faulted 10 times and produced 38 unforced errors.
Stosur wasted a match point at 5-4 in the second set, allowing the Czech to come back.
Kvitova took the second set with a forehand winner and jumped to a commanding 5-0 lead in the final set before Stosur fought back, breaking the Czech twice.
"I didn’t want the fans to get bored," Kvitova said with a smile.
At first, No. 9-ranked Australian seemed to recover from Saturday’s upset 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) loss to Lucie Safarova, jumping to a 5-2 lead in the first set before breaking Kvitova for the second time to take the set.
In the doubles, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka teamed up for the Czechs to beat Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-0, 7-6 (1) to make it 4-0.
The second reverse singles between Safarova and Gajdosova was cancelled, according to Fed Cup rules.
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Italy beats US in decisive doubles to reach Fed Cup semis
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIMINI, Italy — Italy beat the United States 3-2 to progress to the Fed Cup semifinals Sunday after Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci cruised to victory over Varvara Lepchenko and Liezel Huber in the decisive doubles match.
Errani and Vinci lived up to their billing as the top-ranked doubles pairing by winning 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 11 minutes to eliminate the understrength American team.
"They both played a great match and Roberta did a couple of really exceptional shots at the net" Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti said. "I don’t really say much to them when they play, they’re the best, what can you say? I try not to bother them when they play, they know each other so well."
The U.S. led 2-1 after Lepchenko upset the seventh-ranked Errani in Sunday’s first reverse singles match, 7-5, 6-2. But Vinci overcame Jamie Hampton 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to take the best-of-five series to a decisive doubles.
The Americans were without Serena and Venus Williams, as well as Sloane Stephens, because of injuries, but still nearly pulled off the upset.
"I’m really proud of the team, they played their hearts out every single match," U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said. "We knew it was going to be an uphill battle."
Italy will next host defending champion Czech Republic in a rematch of last year’s semifinal.
Italy was a big favourite to earn a third straight victory over the U.S. after beating the Americans in successive Fed Cup finals in 2009 and ’10.
However, a near-perfect display from Lepchenko put the U.S. ahead after an error-strewn performance from Errani.
Lepchenko raced into a 4-2 before Errani fought back to take a 5-4 advantage and serve for the set. But the 21st-ranked American broke again and took the next two games, securing the opening set when Errani hit a shot into the net.
Lepchenko quickly took a 4-1 lead in the second to earn a second straight victory on her Fed Cup debut, after beating Vinci in three sets on Saturday.
"It was a long match yesterday," Lepchenko said. "So I was up and down a bit, but once my body warmed up I started playing better and better, and then in the second set I got pumped and really got going. Clay is one of my favourit surfaces. I was born on clay, so I guess it comes to me naturally."
Vinci then kept Italy in the series, despite playing with a thigh injury she picked up during Saturday’s loss. After inconsistent play in the first two sets, Vinci raced into a 5-0 lead in the third.
"It was an important third set that Jamie lost," Fernandez said. "We could have capitalized there but we didn’t. But this is the closest we’ve come against the Italian team, and we were playing away.
"I’m really proud of everyone, how they handled the atmosphere … there were a lot of new experiences and overall I think it’s a positive experience."
Vinci played even better in the decisive match and was particularly effective at the net as she improved her record to 18-0 in Fed Cup doubles — the best in the competition’s history.
"It’s maybe the best day of my career," Vinci said. "We really wanted it, we were very tired but today we managed to show a lot of heart, a lot of personality. We are a great team. I had to have various treatments and physiotherapy, massages almost until midnight. Yesterday was a horrible day and I’m glad I managed to come back today. "
Errani and Vinci won the doubles title at the Australian Open last month, their third victory in the last four Grand Slams, and they were in complete control against Lepchenko and Huber.
"Of course it’s very disappointing today not to win, disappointing to lose again to them, that’s what hurts the most," Huber said. "They (Vinci and Errani) are the weapon. They’re like sisters and best friends, they can read each other’s body language. That’s why they’re No. 1 and think they’ll be that for many years to come. They both have different styles and they stick to that. I really enjoy watching them play, but not against me."
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Makarova and Vesnina win doubles to secure Russia 3-2 win over Japan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW — Ekaterina Makarova won the second reverse singles match and paired with Elena Vesnina to secure Russia a 3-2 victory over Japan in the Fed Cup on Sunday.
Makarova and Vesnina beat Japan’s Ayumi Morita and Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-2.
Earlier Sunday, Morita put Japan in a 2-1 lead by beating Vesnina 6-4, 6-1 in the first reverse singles, but Makarova put Russia back on track by routing veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-1, 6-1.
The two teams split Saturday’s opening singles when Maria Kirilenko won the first point for Russia by defeating Date-Krumm, while Morita downed Makarova to even the tie at one-all.
The Russian pair of doubles specialists — with both in the top 10 on the WTA Tour doubles rankings — won four consecutive games in the first set and jumped to a 4-1 lead in the second to leave no doubts about the outcome on a hard court at the Olympic indoor stadium.
"I really wanted to win this clash to rehabilitate myself for a defeat in today’s singles," Vesnina said. "We were a bit nervous at the beginning of the match but in the late stages we found our normal play."
Makarova dominated the match against Date-Krumm with her Japanese opponent able to hold serve only once in each set.
"I felt some extra responsibility today as the result of this rubber could have decided the entire match," Makarova said.
Morita broke Vesnina in the fourth game and rallied from 40-love down in the seventh game for a 5-2 lead. The Russian broke back for 5-4 but was broken on her next serve to lose the set. Vesnina, who substituted for originally drawn Kirilenko, broke Morita in the opening game of the second set but Morita dominated the rest of the games and served the match out at love to record her 14th straight Fed Cup victory.
"I played well in both my matches here and I’m really pleased with my performance this weekend," Morita said. "The fact that I managed to win two points for my team boosted my self-confidence a great deal."
Vesnina could not match her opponent’s form.
"She is feeling confident right now and she likes this surface," Vesnina said. "Ayumi is playing her best tennis right now."
Four-time winner Russia was without Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva.
Russia will host Slovakia or travel to Serbia in the semifinals on April 20-21.
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Slovakia defeats Serbia 3-1 in Fed Cup
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Daniela Hantuchova defeated Vesna Dolonc 6-3, 6-2 to secure a 3-1 victory for Slovakia over Serbia in the first round of the Fed Cup and a place in the semifinals against Russia, which beat Japan on Sunday.
Hantuchova cruised to victory against little-known Dolonc, who served well and fought hard but could not match the much more experienced Slovak player.
Hantuchova broke early in the first set and kept the lead. Dolonc managed to hold serve in the first four games of the second set, but Hantuchova then took the lead, closing with a break on match point when Dolonc’s forehand landed beyond the baseline.
Earlier Jana Cepelova rallied to defeat Bojana Jovanovski 5-7, 7-5, 11-9.
The 98th-ranked Cepelova, who replaced Dominika Cibulkova in the reverse singles, repeatedly exchanged breaks with Jovanovski who played with a back injury in a match that lasted more than three hours.
"I am grateful to our coach for chosing me," Cepelova said. "It was a tough match and I had to fight for each point."
Jovanovski said that her back hurt even more after the match, but that "I am not sorry I played."
"Each serve hurt like a knife," she said, adding that she won’t take part in the touranments in Doha and Dubai. "But I fought, I hope we will have more luck next time."
Jovanovski saved two match points in the third set before Cepelova converted the third.
On Saturday, Cibulkova retired hurt with a leg muscle strain while leading her singles match against Dolonc.
Serbia is missing leading players Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic because of injuries.
Slovakia will travel to Russia for the semifinals on April 20-21. Russia beat Japan 3-2.
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Germany beats France 3-1 in Fed Cup
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LIMOGES, France — Julia Goerges beat Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday to give Germany the winning point in a 3-1 victory over France in the Fed Cup.
Goerges relied on her booming serve and powerful groundstrokes to give Germany an unassailable 3-0 lead on the red clay of the Beaublanc indoor arena in Limoges.
She saved two break points early in the match before capitalizing on an unforced error to break Parmentier’s serve at 3-3. The German hit a forehand winner down the line to take the first set.
The 19th-ranked Goerges dropped serve once in the second set, but she broke Parmentier three times for a 5-2 lead. She clinched victory when Parmentier sent a forehand into the net.
"That’s a pretty good result for us," Goerges told the Fed Cup website. "I stayed somehow in the first set and didn’t give her an easy lead. Then she broke down a little bit and I took advantage of it."
Alize Cornet and Kristina Mladenovic beat Annika Beck and Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-4 in doubles to salvage a point for France.
The second reverse singles match pitting Sabine Lisicki against Mladenovic was not played.
"For the moment we’re still below teams like Germany," France captain Amelie Mauresmo told Sport Plus television. "Right now we’re disappointed and a bit frustrated."
The former top-ranked Mauresmo was captaining France for the first time in the Fed Cup.
Germany won the opening singles on Saturday to lead 2-0. Lisicki downed Parmentier 7-5, 7-5 while Goerges defeated Mladenovic 6-3, 7-6 (5).