Russia ties Serbia, while Italy ties Ukraine in Fed Cup

Elsewhere, an under-strength United States won both opening singles against host France, and the Czech Republic and Germany were 1-1 in Brno.

Serbia, making its World Group debut with former No. 1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, was fortunate to finish on level terms in Belgrade with Russia, which has dominated the Fed Cup with four titles since 2004.

In a matchup of the two most recent French Open champions, Svetlana Kuznetsova surprisingly hammered Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4. Kuznetsova came from 4-2 down in the second set to beat Ivanovic for the first time since 2006. The Serb had won their previous four matches.

But Ivanovic committed 50 unforced errors and six double faults and admitted she lost confidence.

“I had my chances in the second set, but psychology played a big part in the final outcome,” Ivanovic said.

Kuznetsova never considered defeat.

“Even while trailing in the second set, I never thought I could lose this match,” she said. “I didn't think it would be so easy in the first set.”

Teammate Alisa Kleybanova, playing her second Fed Cup match, almost pulled off a bigger surprise when she led Jankovic 6-4, 4-1, but Jankovic snapped out of her funk and finally started to play like an 11-time tour winner in prevailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

“Trailing 1-4 in the second set, I decided to take more risks and switch to an all-or-nothing mode,” Jankovic said. “I struggled until the middle of the second set, but when I started playing, she could not stop me.”

Ukraine, another World Group first-timer like Serbia, produced a great start against Italy when Alona Bondarenko continued her four-round form from the Australian in beating Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.

Bondarenko won the first five games in the first set, then came back from 3-1 down in the second. The veteran Schiavone made 54 unforced errors in seeing the end of her six-match, yearlong singles winning streak in Fed Cup.

With home fans' expectations suddenly higher, Bondarenko's younger sister Kateryna, the U.S. Open quarterfinalist, gave her all but couldn't finish better than Italy No. 1 Flavia Pennetta, who won 7-5, 6-3.

If the tie is still even after the reverse singles on Sunday, the Bondarenkos, who won the 2008 Australian Open doubles, will face Roberta Vinci, who has never lost a Fed Cup doubles 14 matches since 2001, including all three last year with Sara Errani.

The United States grabbed a commanding 2-0 lead against France on Lievin's indoor clay, thanks to Bettanie Mattek-Sands outlasting Alize Cornet 7-6 (7), 7-5, then Melanie Oudin beating Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4.

Both Americans helped the team reach last year's final, but Cornet's defeat kept her winless in the Fed Cup and Parmentier was making her competition debut.

The Czechs and Germany split their singles when each team's No. 1 lost.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld upset Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-2 to give Germany a winning start, then Petra Kvitova defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4.

Groenefeld improved her record against Safarova to 2-2 with an impressive serve and array of crosscourt winners.

Petkovic was expected to give Germany a second win but she misfired in her Fed Cup debut and Kvitova always led in both sets.

Following Sunday's matches, the Serbia-Russia winner will take on the France-United States winner in the semifinals in April, and the Ukraine-Italy winner will meet the Czech Republic-Germany victor.

In World Group II, Estonia led Argentina 2-0 in Tallinn, Slovakia led China 2-0 in Bratislava, Australia and Spain were 1-1 in Adelaide, and Poland and Belgium were 1-1 in Bydgoszcz.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email