TENNIS FED CUP 2014 – At the O2 Arena in Prague the Czech Republic won the the two singles matches. Petra Kvitova defeated Andrea Petkovic and Lucie Safarova won against Angelique Kerber. From Prague, Simone Kemler
The mere figures alone are impressive: O2-Arena in Prague, a capacity of 13000 seats, sold out on two days. This setting is a worthy one for the 2014 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final, where Czech Republic is hosting the finals playing Germany. The Czechs who are led by Petr Pala have put a fast hardcourt into the venue hoping that this will enable their leading lady Petra Kvitova to secure the first point in her match again Germany’s Andrea Petkovic. As expected the homecrowd is rooting frantically for their number one Kvitova who is currently on position four in the world rankings – and with success: after just 36 minutes Kvitova won the first set with 6:2 securing 80% first serve points and 11 direct winners.
Petkovic’s start into set 2 was better – she took her oponent`s service game for the first time in the match and so showed courage and willingness to fight for this game. However she was broken back by the current Wimbledon Champion from Czech Republic who proved to be a little too tough and to precise for Petkova today. 6:2, 6:4 is a result which opens the door for the defending champions. “I saw that she started to play better in the second set but I was looking for the moment, stayed focused and so I am happy I won”, Kvitova said in her on-court post-match interview.
Match two of the day was battled between Lucie Safarova (CZE) and Angelique Kerber (GER). Kerber, who so far is unbeaten in all four of the singles rubbers she has played in 2014, had an uneasy start into this match. Especially her first service suffered and was ‘paired’ with some unforced errors, a combination that drove the No. 10 in the world to losing the first set 6:4. Unfortunately for the German, her second set showed similarities to that one of her teammate. She struggled through her own service games and never found a key to break the Czech’s rhythm. “It not easy to keep calm and stay concentrated in the locker room. You want to go out there and play – so I am happy I kept my concentration so that I was able to contribute the second point for my team”, Lucie Safarova beamed after the match which she won 6:4, 6:4 in the end.
So after the first two matches, the Czech Republic has a 2:0 lead, making Barbara Rittner a busy women for the rest of the day, because she has to kept up the spirit of the girls in order to maintain the as of now smallest chance to still win the title, which for her personally would mean that she became the 4th person to win the FedCup as a player and a coach. Already now hopes are fuelled to call in for Sabine Lisicki to get into the game on day 2 …
The 2014 final is the 52nd FedCup Final since the competition began in 1963 and the 20th since the creation of the World Group in 1995. Prague this year is the 16th FedCup Final played on hard court (Novacryllic Ultracushion) and it is the 15th Final under the home-and-away format, which was also introduced in 1995. Czech Repbulic is currently ranked No. 1 on the ITF FedCup Nations Ranking, while Germany has its highest-ever ranking of No.4.