By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, February 7, 2015
Italian No. 1 Sara Errani converted seven of nine break points in a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Caroline Garcia as the host took a 2-0 lead over France.
Photo credit: Ray Giubilo/Fed Cup Facebook
Andrea Petkovic slid a serve winner down the T and erupted in a primal scream.
In a single swing, Petkovic ended a tense three hour, 16-minute fight with Samantha Stosur and sent the Stuttgart faithful into revelry.
A patient Petkovic outdueled Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 to deadlock Germany's Fed Cup first-round tie with Australia at 1-1 after a dramatic opening day of play.
“It’s been a crazy match,” Petkovic told FedCup.com immediately after the match. “I’m just relieved and happy and very emotional to be through now.”
Jarmila Gajdosova staked Australia to a 1-0 lead defeating German No. 1 Angelique Kerber, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The 54th-ranked Aussie broke three times in the final set to wrap up the win in one hour, 49 minutes.
It was Gajdosova's third win over Kerber in four career meetings and set the stage for the third Fed Cup showdown between Kerber and Stosur.
Last April, Petkovic beat Stosur, 6-1, 7-6 (7) in the Fed Cup semifinals in Brisbane in helping Germany to its first Fed Cup final since 1993.
Stosur saved 10 of 12 break points she faced in the decider. An ace out wide followed by a backhand pass down the line helped Stosur dig out a hard-fought hold for a 10-9 lead.
The 2011 U.S. Open champion was two points from giving the green-and-gold a 2-0 lead, reaching 15-30 in the following game. Petkovic did not yield. A shanked Stosur forehand followed by a netted backhand gave the German game point. Petkovic held when Stosur netted a forehand.
Stosur's struggle to control her forehand down the line cost her the crucial break. Moving up to a mid-court forehand, she had a good look at open court down the line, but misfired her forehand and tossed her racquet up in the air in frustration to face another break point. Petkovic plastered a backhand winner crosscourt then paused — as did everyone in the Stuttgart Arena — to await the replay. Hawk-Eye showed the shot landed right on the line and Petkovic pumped her fist with the break and an 11-10 lead.
An aggressive backhand winner crosscourt gave Petkovic triple match point and she closed with a service winner and scream.
The 10th-ranked Kerber faces Stosur in Sunday's opening reverse singles followed by Gajdosova vs. Petkovic. Gajdosova swept Petkovic in straight sets in Sydney last month. If the nations split reverse singles, the doubles match between Germany's Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki and Stosur and Casey Dellacqua will decide it.
Elsewhere, there wasn't much drama in World Group play.
Russia 2, Poland 0
Russia rolled to a 2-0 lead over host Poland and the Radwanska sisters on the hard court of Krakow.
Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her hard-court mastery of Agnieszka Radwanska, breaking serve six times in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 triumph. Kuznetsova has won eight of 10 hard-court meetings with the elder Radwanska. The 27th-ranked Russian earned her first win of the season after opening-round exits in Auckland, Sydney and at the Australian Open.
World No. 2 Maria Sharapova overwhelmed Urszula Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 in a clinical 82-minute dissection, giving Russia a commanding lead in the first Fed Cup tie between the two nations.
Playing her first Fed Cup match in three years, Sharapova was solid on serve. She did not hit a double fault and won 13 of 19 second-serve points, compared to Radwanska's six of 20 second-serve points won.
The Australian Open finalist can clinch Russia's semifinal spot when she plays Aga Radwanska in Sunday's opening reverse singles. Sharapova is 11-2 lifetime against Radwanska. Kuznetsova is scheduled to face Urszula Radwanska in Sunday's second reverse singles match.
Italy 2, France 0
Italy is one win from its sixth straight Fed Cup semifinal after wins from Sara Errani and Camila Giorgi on the red clay of Genoa.
Italian No. 1 Errani withstood 35 winners from Caroline Garcia, converting seven of nine break points in a demanding 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory that ended one minute short of two hours.
Whipping winners from her forehand almost at will, Giorgi dismissed Alize Cornet, 6-4, 6-2, in 78 minutes. Giorgi nearly tripled Cornet's winner output (34 to 12), including 19 forehand winners. It was an impressive performance from the 31st-ranked Italian, who defeated American Madison Keys in her Fed Cup singles debut last February.
Attacking from the outset, Giorgi stepped inside the baseline crunching shots into the corners and often finishing points with the forehand swing volley. At one point, a frustrated Cornet slapped the face of her racquet in frustration.
Errani will try to clinch for the home side when she plays Cornet tomorrow.