2015 Fed Cup 1st Round Wrap

After a fairly bland first day of Fed Cup, the second day delivered with 2 live 5th rubbers and unsung heroes.  There were chokes by big names, an 0-2 comeback, and 34-yr-old vets delivering in the clutch.  And in the zones, lesser known names like Ivana Jorovic and Veronica Cepede Royg came through big to push their countries toward the next level.

World Group I

CZE 4 CAN 0 - What a debut it was for Czech #3 Karolina Pliskova.  She lost 12 games in 4 sets vs Canada's B-team of Abanda and Dabrowski, and Smitkova lost just 3 games in her debut.  There are plenty of good Czechs on tour behind Kvitova and Safarova, and this isn't even counting Koukalova or Zahlavova Strycova.

FRA 3 ITA 2 - From the routine to the dramatic.  I thought this tie was over when Cornet couldn't manage much against Giorgi as the French went down 0-2 following Errani's tight 2-set win over Garcia to open the proceedings.  But I wasn't counting on Mladenovic coming off the bench to stun Errani then teaming with Garcia to rout world nos. 1 Errani/Vinci in the doubles 6-1 6-2 in the live 5th rubber, which was after Garcia had come from a set down to beat Giorgi.  An Italian disaster but a thrilling comeback for the French.

RUS 4 POL 0 - The Radwanska's return home to Krakow turned out to be a disaster.  Aga started the tie off by losing to a player who hasn't done too much winning recently in Kuznetsova and Sharapova rolled over Ula, losing 3 games.  Aga put up a little fight in the 2nd set against Sharapova, but still went down in straights, and Russia marched on.

GER 4 AUS 1 - Petkovic is the marathon woman and this tie very nearly went downhill quickly for the host Germans.  Gadjosova upset Kerber and then Petkovic was a brink of defeat vs Stosur before pulling it out 12-10 in the 3rd in 3:16.  Kerber made amends for her day 1 loss by beating Stosur in straight sets but Gadjosova wasn't going give up against Petkovic.  The German survived 8-6 in the 3rd to send the Germans through to the semis in what was a very long weekend on court for her.

Semifinals: France at Czech Republic, Germany at Russia

World Group II

NED 4 SVK 1 - I thought Rybarikova might be able to carry the Slovaks here but that turned out wrong.  She lost to both Rus and Bertens over the weekend and A.Schmiedlova got the only Slovak win, beating Bertens to open the tie.  Rus, with a ranking of #218, picked up 2 singles wins over players in the top 100.  So the Dutch will play to make World Group I for the first time since '98 while Slovaks will try to avoid dropping into the zones for the first time since '06.

ROU 3 ESP 2 - Spain got a great effort from their Muguruza, winning her singles over Begu and world no. 3 Halep and the 1st set of the deciding doubles (w/Medina Garrigues).  But Begu/Niculescu, a regular tour team, came back to win in 3 sets to clinch the live 5th rubber.  It was also Begu who kept the tie live by seeing off Soler Espinosa after Halep lost to Muguruza to open day 2.  Romania will try to make the World Group I for the first time since '92 (WOW) while Spain has never been in the zones.

SUI 3 SWE 1 - The Swedes were just overwhelmed here with Larsson and 19-yr-old Peterson against the in-form Bacsinszky and the young Bencic.  Bacsinszky would be forced into tiebreaks twice, but the visitor's wouldn't lose a live set.  The Swiss will play to make the World Group I for the first time since '04.

USA 4 ARG 1 - The Williams sisters rolled through the first day (except for a 7-5 set by Serena vs Irigoyen) but then apparently Serena couldn't go on day 2 and Ormaechea upset Vandeweghe, who's Fed Cup record isn't very good (0-3 now).  That left Venus to save the day and she did just that, sending off Irigoyen in straight sets.

World Group I Playoff teams: Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, United States

World Group II Playoff teams: Argentina, Belarus, Japan, Paraguay, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden

Europe/Africa Zonal Group I

Promoted to playoffs: BLR, SRB
Relegated to Group II: AUT, LIE

Azarenka only played in 2 of Belarus' 4 ties over the week but they still came through with the loss of just one rubber (Larcher de Brito (POR) def. Sasnovich), forcing a live doubles rubber win vs Portugal.  Azarenka did take of Watson in the promotion tie in straight sets in clinch the tie after Govortsova, who was undefeated in singles, had beaten Konta.  Great Britain lost to Turkey (Buyukakcay stunned Watson) but came back to win the group when they bested Ukraine (Svitolina was 1-2 for the week with losses Watson and Buyukakcay (who went 3-0)).

Serbia got amazing play from both Krunic and little-known Jorovic, who both went undefeated 3-0 in the singles, beating Hungary and Austria in their group and then taking out Croatia in the promotion tie.  The Croats beat a Belgian team in the "group of death" who oddly did not play Wickmayer in that critical tie, which came down to doubles after van Uytvanck beat Vrljic (Vekic sat that one out too) and Konjuh beat Flipkens.  Croatia won the doubles to advance to promotion tie, Konjuh and Vekic losing there to Jorovic and Krunic.

In the relegation tie, Austria lost the deciding doubles to Latvia and their promising youngsters Marcinkevica and Ostapenko so they are relegated to Group II for the first time ever while outgunned Liechtenstein makes an immediate return.

Americas Zonal Group I

Promoted to playoffs: PAR
Relegated to Group II: CHI, BOL

Brazil won all the live rubbers to reach the promotion tie but curiously Pereira never featured in singles.  Paraguay had to go to the doubles against host Mexico after Gonzalez was beaten by Zacarias but Cepede Royg won singles and doubles (w/Gonzalez) that day so they advanced out of the their group.  In the promotion, Gonzalez again lost the opening rubber, this time to Goncalves, but Cepede Royg against pushed the tie to the doubles by beating Haddad Maia.  Pereira did show up for doubles but she and Gonzalez were beaten by Cepede Royg/Gonzalez and Paraguay makes their first trip to World Group II playoffs since '92.

At the bottom of the group, Chile makes an immediate return to Group II but Venezuela hasn't been there since '11.

Asia/Pacific Zonal Group I

Promoted to playoffs: JPN
Relegated to Group II: HKG

China never can seem to get over the hump in this group, and for that matter, the Kazakhs can't either.  Both countries had their good players too with Peng, S.Zhang, Diyas, and Shvedova but it was Japan that emerged victorious, and undefeated in rubbers (from the weaker group I might add) with Nara and Doi.  It was curious though that Peng only played doubles for China and they (Wang and Zhang) were beaten by Shvedova and Diyas in that critical tie, but the Kazakhs advanced to the promotion tie only to have Putintseva and Shvedova beaten by Doi and Nara.

Hong Kong finished at the bottom of Japan's group then lost the relegation tie to Taiwan, so they make an immediate return to Group II

Europe/Africa Zonal Group II

Promoted to Group I: EST, RSA
Relegated to Group III: IRL, LUX

Kanepi, Scheepers, and Herzog were the recognizable names in this zone group and as expected 2 of those teams advanced.  Finland was the other team to reach the promotion tie where they were beaten soundly by South Africa.  Estonia had lost to South Africa when Scheepers beat Kanepi in singles and doubles but still advanced when they beat Slovenia, unfortunately playing without Hercog after she was injured against Ireland, nearly causing the Slovenes to lose that tie.  Well Slovenia (along with Austria) should be the favorites for promotion next year.  Estonia, after being relegated 3 straight years (playing without Kanepi) have now been promoted in back-to-back years.  South Africa returns to Group I for the first time since '06.

Ireland will make an immediate return to Group III but for Luxembourg (now playing without Minella and Kremer, perpetual wildcards at the Luxembourg indoor WTA event) it is back-to-back relegations and their first ever appearance at the Group III level.

So that is that.  Another exciting weekend of team competition.  We've got Davis Cup coming up in about a month and then the second Fed Cup weekend in the middle of April.