Belgium completed a 5-0 sweep against Colombia in a Fed Cup playoff on Sunday.
Yanina Wickmayer cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Yuliana Lizarazo in the reverse singles, while Kirsten Flipkens beat Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-3.
Caroline Maes and Debbrich Feys then beat Castano and Duque-Marino 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles of the World Group II playoff. Wickmayer beat Duque-Marino and Flipkens defeated Castano on Saturday.
Belgium played without top-ranked Justine Henin, who is skipping this year’s Fed Cup to reduce the burden of the long season.
Belgium won the Fed Cup in 2001 and was runner-up in 2006. But without Henin and the recently retired Kim Clijsters, it had lost every tie since the 2006 final and needed the victory against Colombia to avoid dropping into the Europe/Africa Group for the first time since 1995.
In other playoffs, the Czech Republic won 3-2 at Israel, the series going down to the doubles match.
After Iveta Benesova rallied to beat Shahar Peer 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4 to put the Czechs 2-1 up, Tzipora Obziler beat Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 to reply for Israel at Ramat Hasharon.
But Benesova and Kveta Peschke beat Obziler and Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-3 to clinch it for the Czechs.
Argentina won both reverse singles matches to beat Germany in Buenos Aires.
The series was locked at 1-1 after Saturday, but Gisela Dulko beat Martina Muller 6-2, 6-4, and Bettina Jozami defeated Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 to give Argentina an unbeatable 3-1 lead.
Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani won for Italy over Ukraine at Olbia.
With the match level at 1-1, Schiavone won 7-5, 6-3 over Alona Bondarenko before Errani topped Katerina Bondarenko 6-3, 6-2.
Ukraine’s Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Perebiynis rallied to beat Errani and Karin Knapp 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to make the final score 3-2.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS