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By Erik Gudris | Sunday, February 7, 2015

 
Karolina Pliskova Fed Cup

Karolina Pliskova did double duty winning both in singles and doubles to help her Czech team defeat Romania in Fed Cup.

Photo Credit: Fed Cup


Karolina Pliskova earned MVP honors as she lifted defending Fed Cup champions Czech Republic over a tough Romanian team in their opening round tie.

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Entering the reverse singles on Sunday, both teams found themselves tied at 1-all. But it was Romania’s top player who gave her team an early edge.

Simona Halep put her Romanian team ahead at the start of the afternoon. Facing Halep across the net was Petra Kvitova who was hoping to once again win a needed singles rubber for the defending champions.

Halep claimed the opening set 6-4 after a helpful net cord fell over onto Kvitova’s side of the court on set point. Though Halep proved steadier in the extended rallies, it only forced Kvitova to ramp up her trademark power.

Though broken early in the second set, Kvitova rallied to take it 6-3 and force a decider.

Kvitova broke Halep early on in the final set, but her advantage proved short-lived. Halep broke back later for 3-all and played better down the stretch. Halep ended up winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 over Kvitova. It was the first time ever that Kvitova had lost both of her singles rubbers in a Fed Cup tie.



The second singles rubber featured Monica Niculescu against another big hitting Czech in Karolina Pliskova. Though Niculescu enjoyed a 2-0 head to head over Pliskova, the pressure was on the Romanian to pull off another big win in front of the home crowd.

Niculescu used her tradmark craftiness and slice forehands to earn an early break in the opening set. Yet Pliskova responded later with a huge forehand winner to break back for 3-all.

Pliskova continued firing winners into all sides of the court as she broke Niculescu again later to take the set 6-4.

Though Pliskova jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second set, Niculescu would not fade away. Spurred on by the home crowd, Niculescu broke a frustrated Pliskova and soon leveled things at 4-all. Niculescu then broke again for 5-4 when Pliskova couldn’t pass the Romanian up at net.

Niculescu clinched the set 6-4 when Pliskova sent a forehand just wide. An angry Pliskova broke her racquet in frustration earning her a code violation.

The third set again proved a battle of power against spin. Niculescu used her low, slice forehand to frequently disrupt Pliskova in their rallies. Yet Niculescu double faulted facing a break point to hand Pliskova a 3-1 lead. Pliskova fought back from 15-40 in the next game to extend her lead to 4-1.

Serving for it at 5-3, Pliskova clinched the match with an ace to seal the 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win to level the tie.

For the deciding doubles, Pliskova was called up as a last minute substitution to pair with Barbora Strycova. They took on a much lower seeded pair of Andrea Mitu and Raluca Olaru.

Pliskova and Strycova proved too strong for their lower ranked Romanian opponents. The Czech team cruised through the opening set 6-2. They then went up an early break in the second set. Though the Romanians held off going down a double break, it didn’t delay the inevitable.

Up 5-3. the Czechs earned a match point when Olaru double faulted serving at 30-all. The Romanians would float a volley long on the final point giving Pliskova and Strycova the 6-2, 6-3 win. With that, the Czechs won 3-2.




The Czechs will next face Switzerland in the semifinals later this year.

 

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