Taiwan and Poland were locked at 1-1 after the first day of their Fed Cup World Group II playoff on Saturday in Inowroclaw, Poland.
Fed Cup debutant Hsu Ching-wen got the visitors off to the perfect start, recovering from a break down in the first set to claim a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paula Kania in 1 hour, 16 minutes in the first singles rubber.
The Taiwanese saved two of four break points and converted four of eight, hitting 19 winners on her way to claiming 64 of the 107 points contested to put promotion-seeking Taiwan 1-0 up in the best-of-five tie.
Photo: EPA
“I was thinking too much,” the 19-year-old Taiwanese told the Fed Cup Web site of her initial wobble.
“I wanted to win fast, but I lose the control,” she said.
“My opponent, she played so well,” world No. 151 Kania said.
“She had an answer for each shot,” Kania added.
Taiwan looked to be heading for a 2-0 first-day lead when Lee Ya-hsuan won the first set of the second singles rubber, but the hosts’ Magdalena Frech rallied to claim a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory in 1 hour, 56 minutes to level the tie at 1-1.
Frech saved two of five break points and converted seven of 14, winning 99 of the 176 points contested.
Asked by the Fed Cup Web site whether she was experiencing anxiety at being a set down, 18-year-old Frech denied feeling nervous.
“I tried to relax, to play my game, and I did, so it’s unbelievable... It’s the best match in my career,” she said.
In yesterday’s reverse singles, Kania was due to take on Lee, before Frech was to face Hsu. In what could be the deciding doubles rubber, Taiwan specialists Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei were to play Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Katarzyna Kawa.
Taiwan skipper Wang Shi-ting said her team possessed the stronger doubles pairing and should her team win at least one of yesterday’s singles rubbers, they would have the better chance of winning the tie.
Poland player-captain Jans-Ignacik was asked how crucial it was for the hosts to win the first reverse singles rubber.
“It would be easier for us if we would win the first one and then would also be easier for Magdalena later on, but I’m not thinking like this. It doesn’t matter — first, second, third [rubbers of the day], we just want to win,” she said.
WORLD GROUP
AFP, PARIS
Fightbacks from Switzerland against holders Czech Republic and France against the Netherlands left the Fed Cup semi-finals on a knife edge on Saturday.
Barbora Strycova got the Czech Republic off to a winning start in Lucerne, demolishing world No. 17 Timea Bacsinszky 6-0, 6-2 in 65 minutes, which left Switzerland facing a tough battle as they bid for a first Fed Cup final appearance since 1998.
However, Viktorija Golubic leveled with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Karolina Pliskova to leave the tie wide open at 1-1 ahead of yesterday’s concluding reverse singles and doubles.
In Trelaze, hosts France were trailing after Kiki Bertens saw off Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2 in the opening rubber.
Bertens, ranked 96, dominated France’s No. 2 player Garcia, ranked 45, calmly converting her only break point opportunity in the first set.
She increased the pressure in the second to wrap up the tie after 1 hour, 11 minutes at the Arena Loire to notch up her 14th win for just one singles defeat in Fed Cup matches.
Taking a leaf out of the Swiss book, France dug deep and got themselves back level at 1-1 thanks to Kristina Mladenovic’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Richel Hogenkamp.
PLAYOFFS
AFP, BRISBANE, Australia
A below-strength US team booked a place in the Fed Cup World Group in 2017 when Coco Vandeweghe came from a set down to beat Australia’s Samantha Stosur yesterday.
Vandeweghe’s 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win in the first of the reverse singles gave the visitors an unassailable 3-0 lead in their World Group play-off match at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
They later made it a clean sweep when Vandeweghe teamed with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to down Australian pair Daria Gavrilova and Arina Rodionova 6-1, 6-4 in the doubles.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS