France on Sunday set up a Fed Cup final against Australia when Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, who once were barely on speaking terms, teamed up to crown a 3-2 victory over Romania.
Former Roland Garros doubles champions Garcia and Mladenovic beat Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to secure the winning point and a final date against Australia in November.
Victory was a diplomatic coup for France coach Julien Benneteau who teamed up Garcia and Mladenovic for the first time in the Fed Cup since 2016, after which the pair had a bitter falling out that led to a self-imposed Fed Cup exile for Garcia, her country’s top player.
Photo: AFP
“Every match was incredible,” Benneteau said. “I am so proud of them. It was always my intention to put them together — and it was not hard to do.”
Earlier on Sunday, French Open champion Halep won her second singles of the weekend, seeing off Garcia 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4 for a 2-1 lead in the semi-final.
Veteran Pauline Parmentier then beat a hobbling Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 to pull France level.
“I found out I was playing last night,” Parmentier said. “I didn’t sleep very well and I was awake pretty early, ready to play. This is my best ever Fed Cup singles match. It’s an amazing feeling.”
In a tense deciding rubber, Halep, whose doubles ranking is in the 400s, committed a double fault to concede the break in the ninth game of the final set before Garcia held her nerve to serve out the victory.
France, who won the last of their two titles in 2003, are to travel to Australia for the final.
Six-time champions Australia, whose most recent title was in 1974, reached a first final in 26 years by seeing off Belarus 3-2 in Brisbane in a tie also settled by a three-set deciding doubles rubber.
Halep gave Romania a lead on Saturday by seeing off Mladenovic 6-3, 6-1, before Garcia swept past Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 6-3 to level the tie.
“I knew it would be more difficult than yesterday,” said Halep after registering a ninth successive singles win in a tournament that Romania have yet to win. “She started very fast, hitting the ball very strong, and I think I was a bit slow.”
“It felt like playing at home, that was how I was able to fight to the end. I won it for the fans who came here,” she added.
Halep’s win over Garcia, her sixth in seven meetings, took almost three hours, with the crucial break in the final set coming in the eighth game when the French No. 1 served up back-to-back double faults.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS