Women Tennis Update – Fed Cup Sunday, April 21, 2013

Written by: Staff on 20th April 2013

Women Tennis Update - Fed Cup Sunday, April 21, 2013

epa03595468 Sara Errani of Italy returns the ball to her compatriot Roberta Vinci during their semi final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 22 February 2013. Errani won 6-3 and 6-3. EPA/ALI HAIDER |

Fed Cup

First blood of the weekend went to Italy. Not that it was much of a surprise. Italy’s #1 Sara Errani beat Czech #2 Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-2. That left things in the hands of Petra Kvitova. It was pretty much do or die for Kvitova against Roberta Vinci. And… she died. Bad Kvitova was definitely back; Vinci won 6-4 6-1 to give Italy a 2-0 lead. It makes you wonder how Kvitova will do in Stuttgart….

The tie between Russia and the Slovak Republic is definitely not going according to plan. It looked like the Slovaks were in trouble, because Dominika Cibulkova barely edged Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opener. The Slovak #1 needed two and a half hours to beat the Russian #2 5-7 6-1 6-4. Surely Maria Kirilenko would put the Russians on the board, right?

Not even close. The Russian crowd wasn’t able to help, either. Daniela Hantuchova, slump and all, dislike of clay and all, thumped Kirilenko 6-2 6-4, and the Slovaks are one win away from the final. Where, it appears, they will not be facing the Czechs….

It very much looks as if the first team to clinch a World Group I spot will be Spain. They were the first to complete their schedule on Saturday, and they ended up with a 2-0 lead on Japan. Carla Suarez Navarro began the action by beating Misaki Doi 6-3 6-4; Silvia Soler-Espinosa followed by beating Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-3.

We still don’t have a clue whether Germany or Serbia will advance; Ana Ivanovic edged Mona Barthel 7-6 2-6 6-2, but Angelique Kerber answered with a 7-5 6-2 win over Bojana Jovanovski. The Germans will have the higher-ranked player in both reverse singles matches, but Kerber isn’t in great form at present.

The tie between Australia and Switzerland didn’t even start. The Swiss chose to play the tie on outdoor clay — and Saturday was rained out. They hope to play on Sunday, but of course it will be tough to play five matches in one day! Yes, they can run over into Monday if they must, but the players have places to go….

It was perhaps unfortunate for the Americans that rookie Sloane Stephens had to play the first match; her opponent Sofia Arvidsson had a huge edge in experience. And there was rain, which meant that Stephens had extra time during the match to think about the situation. Stephens looked nervous in the first, blew chances in the second but managed to win it, then collapsed in the third after both a heat delay and the rain delay. Arvidsson gave Sweden a 6-4 4-6 6-1 point. Then, however, it was the turn of Serena Williams. The big question there was whether the weather would cooperate. So far, it hasn’t.

The big news in the World Group II playoff is that, yes, Marion Bartoli played. And played well. She beat Galina Voskoboeva 6-0 6-3. Unfortunately for the French, Yaroslava Shvedova also had one of her good days. She beat Alize Cornet 2-6 6-3 6-2. Still, the French will have the higher-ranked player in both the reverse singles matches. And Shvedova will be tired. On the other hand, Cornet seems to be melting down very often lately.

Belgium and Poland are also tied, but it feels as if that gives the edge to Poland. Agnieszka Radwanska started things off by beating Alison Van Uytvanck 6-2 6-4. Kirsten Flipkens put things level by beating Urszula Radwanska 6-4 6-3, but barring injury, the two Radwanskas should both win their reverse singles matches.

The tie between Ukraine and Canada was noteworthy mostly for the fact that the #2 players won both matches. Elina Svitolina edged Canada’s #1 Eugenie Bouchard 6-7(8-10) 6-3 6-2, whereupon Sharon Fichman beat Lesia Tsurenko 7-6(7-5) 2-6 6-3. Hard to guess how that will resolve itself!

The contest between Great Britain and Argentina gave us a complete non-sweep: All four playoff ties are level at 1-1. Argentina’s Paula Ormaechea — the one player on their team who has shown occasional signs of talent — started things off by beating Johanna Konta 6-3 6-2, but Laura Robson, the only Top Fifty player on either team, promptly levelled the tie by beating Florencia Molinero 6-1 6-1.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Dominika Cibulkova, Fed Cup, Lucie Safarova, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, women tennis news