Petra Kvitova sends Czech Republic into Fed Cup final
Sunday 19 April 2015 16:38, UK
Petra Kvitova beat Caroline Garcia in straight sets to lead the Czech Republic to their second straight Fed Cup final appearance.
Kvitova defeated the Frenchwoman 6-4 6-4 to give her team an unassailable 3-0 lead in Ostrava.
Lucie Safarova had earned the first Czech point by beating Garcia 4-6 7-6 6-1 on Saturday, after saving five match points in front of a boisterous crowd at the CEZ Arena, and Kvitova swept aside Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 6-4 to make it 2-0.
And Kvitova had few problems winning her second match on Sunday morning, taking the first set with a break and moving 5-1 in front in the second.
Garcia briefly threatened by winning three games on the bounce from 5-1 down, but Kvitova was in no mood to be broken for a second time and served out for victory.
"It was definitely hard," Kvitova said. "I knew what to expect, I played against her last year so I knew how to play and it worked.
"She likes to play fast, long balls into the body so the rival wouldn't have time. I tried to play the same, go for it from the first ball after the serve so she would have to run and wouldn't have time to dictate the pace."
The second singles rubber was not played on Sunday, although France did win the doubles to make the final score 3-1 after Kristina Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier defeated Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 0-6 6-3 10-8.
The Czech Republic will face either Russia the November final, which is their fourth in five years.
Russia defeated Germany 3-2 after Elena Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic 6-2 6-3 in the deciding rubber of their semi-final in Sochi.
The Russian duo looked confident from the start, producing three breaks in the opening set for a 1-0 lead after 38 minutes, while Lisicki and Petkovic broke back on one occasion.
The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first as the Russians broke their opponents' serve on three more occasions sealing their victory with an ace by Pavlyuchenkova.
Germany's Angelique Kerber had earlier beaten Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-0 to level the match at 2-2 after Petkovic had reduced the arrears with a 6-2 6-1 over Svetlana Kuznetsova.
