Fed Cup Results

Not a ton of surprises over the weekend of Fed Cup, though there was some drama with 4 matches going to "extra innings" and young Ukrainian taking it to Italy.  I'll recap the action here, and have a ATP tournament summary probably tomorrow since the Viña del Mar is still going on right now.

World Group I


RUS 3 ESP 2 - Not quite as close as it looked.  Russia won 2 on day 1, then Petrova subbed for Sharapova and got beat, leaving Kuznetsova to lock up the tie.

SRB 3 BEL 2 - Came down to the doubles as expected.  Wickmayer won 2 rubbers for Belgium, Jankovic didn't play on day 2.  Jovanovski came to the rescue beating Flipkens on day 2 and winning the doubles with Krunic.

ITA 3 UKR 2 - Lesia Tsurenko came up huge for Ukraine, stunning Schiavone and Errani, but she couldn't get past Pennetta/Vinci in the doubles like she did in Australia last spring.  Give Schiavone credit for coming back on day 2 to best K.Bondarenko.

CZE 4 GER 1 - This was a sweep, after Kvitova outlasted Goerges 10-8 in the 3rd.  Benesova upset Lisicki and then Kvitova sealed it by also beating her.  All 3 live rubbers went 3 sets.

World Group II


USA 5 BLR 0 - Azarenka pulled out with a back injury so Belarus had no chance.  Yakimova, however, did take a set off Serena.  McHale got her first Fed Cup win after last year's debacle in Belgium.

JPN 5 SLO 0 - When a 42-year-old beats the Slovene no. 1, you know things aren't going well for the visitiors.

SVK 3 FRA 2 - Some drama early here, when Hantuchova to go to 9-7 in the 3rd to beat Parmentier, then Cibulkova lost.  But the Slovaks took care of business on day 2, as Dani clinched over Cornet in the 4th rubber.

AUS 4 SUI 1 - Gajdosova had an epic weekend, losing to Voegele 8-6 in the 3rd on day 1, but then she came back to beat Sadikovic 8-6 in the 3rd to clinch the tie on day 2.

Believe it or not, I made eight correct predictions in terms of winning nation for the World Group I/II ties.  My scores, however, were rarely correct.

Zonal Groups


Great Britain and Sweden will join the World Group II playoffs in a few months, after they beat Austria and Poland in the playoff ties.  Arantxa Rus never showed up for the Dutch, leaving the Brits to win that pool.  Poland beat Romania 2-1 in their contest to win group D, but couldn't get past the Swedes.

Estonia (without Kanepi) and Greece (without Daniilidou) were relegated.

Argentina will again participate in the World Group II playoffs, having knocked off Colombia in the final after destroying Canada in pool play.  Paraguay was second in the other group, and have a young star in Veronica Cepede Royg who went undefeated in singles.  Bolivia and Bahamas were relegated.

There is hope for China to finally return to World Group II after they went through an easy pool and then beat Kazakhstan in the final.  The Kazakhs got a good test from Thailand in their pool but prevailed.  Indonesia was relegated back to Asia/Pacific Group II after their promotion a year ago.

Finally, India will return to Asia/Pacific Group I after just a one-year absence after they took down Hong Kong in the final.  Mirza didn't play and instead they got a number of wins from 15-year-old Rutuja Bhosale.

I only predicted one of promotions (India) correctly.