Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first reverse singles yesterday in their Fed Cup World Group final against Russia.
The win put the Czech Republic within a point of clinching their first Fed Cup title as an independent nation after splitting from Slovakia in 1993.
LONG TIME COMING
Their last triumph came when, playing as Czechoslovakia, they beat the former Soviet Union 2-1 in the 1988 final.
In-form Kvitova fought back from 0-3 down in the final set to reel off the next six games for her 12th consecutive victory since last month’s China Open.
In the first meeting between the two players, Russia’s two-time Grand Slam winner produced some of her best tennis this year in the opening set, hitting powerful drives from behind the baseline that often left the tall Czech flat-footed.
After saving one set point, Kvitova netted a tame backhand to surrender the first set.
Kvitova, cheered on by a small but vocal band of Czech Republic supporters at Moscow’s spacious Olympic indoor arena, then raced to a 5-1 lead before sealing the second set to level the match.
Kuznetsova regained the initiative at the start of the third set, breaking the Czech left-hander in the second game to take a 3-0 lead.
However, Kvitova, who has won two titles — including the WTA Championships two weeks ago — in less than a month, was not to be denied as she found her range at the most crucial time to turn the match around.
After getting back on serve in the fifth game, the fired-up Czech, who crushed Maria Kirilenko in straight sets on Saturday, broke Kuznetsova twice more to claim her sixth successive win in Fed Cup competition this year.
TIED-UP
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who replaced Kirilenko, later beat Czech No. 2 Lucie Safarova in the second reverse singles in of day 6-2, 6-4, to tie the series at 2-2.
This meant that the series was to be decided in the fifth and final match later yesterday, which was to be a doubles match, Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina facing off against Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke.
Additional reporting by staff writeriter
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS