Fed Cup 2012 Latest Update

Written by: Staff on 5th February 2012

Fed Cup 2012 Latest Update

Maria Sharapova of Russia serves to Sabine Lisicki of Germany during their fourth round match at the Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2012. EPA/DAVID CROSLING |

©”DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Any questions about how Maria Sharapova would bounce back from the Australian Open final were quickly answered. In the tie between Russia and Spain, Sharapova came out and plastered Silvia Soler Espinosa 6-2 6-1. Svetlana Kuznetsova was almost as efficient, beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-1. Assuming nothing happens to Sharapova, she can clinch (and earn her Olympic berth) in the third match.

The tie between Germany and the Czechs started with a real surprise: The Czech #2 Iveta Benesova shocked Sabine Lisicki 2-6 6-4 6-2. That seemed to put the Czechs in a very strong position, because they had Petra Kvitova to play the second singles. That was amazingly close, but Kvitova managed to win 6-3 3-6 10-8 — having been two points away from defeat in the tenth game of the set. That may be a bad sign for the reverse singles, but the Czechs really ought to win the doubles at least, so they still appear to be in good shape.

The only surprise in the first match between Belgium and Serbia was the score. Jelena Jankovic beat Kirsten Flipkens, but the score was 7-5 7-5. But the reverse singles was equally predictable: Yanina Wickmayer beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-4 6-4. The tie is level, and we still don’t have much idea what comes next.

We didn’t even have a “scoreline surprise” in the first match of the Italy/Ukraine tie. Sara Errani opened for Italy with a 6-2 6-3 win over Kateryna Bondarenko. But then came a genuine stunner as Lesia Tsurenko trounced Francesca Schiavone 6-1 6-2. The Italians still seem to have the edge in that contest — but they had better get Schiavone straightened out fast!

The World Group II tie between Japan and Slovenia was effectively over almost before it began. The first match pitted Kimiko Date-Krumm against Slovenia’s top player, Polona Hercog. And Date-Krumm, despite being ranked dozens of places lower, won that 2-6 6-4 6-2. Since Slovenia’s plans depended heavily on success by Hercog, that was very bad news. And it got worse when Ayumi Morita beat inexperienced Nastja Kolar 2-6 6-4 6-3. The Slovenes obviously need to win all three of their remaining matches, and that means that Kolar (or her replacement) has to be able to save the tie….

Amazingly, the Swiss are not down 2-0 to Australia. Rusty Timea Bacsinszky lost 6-2 7-5 to Samantha Stosur, but Stefanie Voegele kept Switzerland alive with a gutsy 6-0 6-7 8-6 win over Jarmila Gajdosova. It’s hard to believe that the Swiss can pull this out, but at least they avoided a sweep….

The tie between the Slovaks and France is also tied as the French clearly performed above expectations. Daniela Hantuchova edged Pauline Parmentier 5-7 6-1 9-7, but Virginie Razzano finally showed signs of her former ability as she beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-4.

Belarus had bad news. Victoria Azarenka has a bad back, so she withdrew from Saturday action, leaving Anastasia Yakimova to play Christina McHale. And, yes, McHale, not Venus Williams, was chosen to play #2 singles for the Americans. That worked fine for the Americans; McHale — who is the youngest player on the American team by almost 11 years! — won her first-ever Fed Cup match, beating Yakimova 6-0 6-4. Serena Williams then beat Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-0, and the Americans are one win away from advancing. And Serena plays Yakimova next. Belarus probably needs to hope for a miracle cure for Azarenka.

In the zonals, Great Britain, Sweden, Argentina, and China will be promoted to the World Group II playoffs. China looks as if it has the chance to go higher still. The rest are not so clear.

©”DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Topics: Maria Sharapova, Silvia Soler Espinosa