Maria Sharapova fought back from a set down to defeat Petra Kvitova 3-6 6-4 6-2 to give Russia a 2-1 lead in the third singles rubber match at the Fed Cup Final at the O2 Arena in Prague. This win puts Russia one win away from their first Fed Cup win since 2008. Karolina Pliskova needs to win against Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova to keep Czech hopes alive.
Kvitova and Sharapova clashed for the 11th time in their careers. Sharapova led 6-4 in their previous head-to-head matches but was 4-3 on hard-court, although Kvitova won their last two matches in straight sets in the last two editions of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Kvitova converted her third break point with her volley to go up 1-0 before consolidating the break in the second game. Sharapova saved a break point to get her first game on the scoreboard. From a break point down Sharapova held her serve with an ace and two unreturnable serves.
Kvitova led 4-2 with a comfortable hold of serve. The Czech player put pressure on Sharapova who had not earned a break point in the first six games. Sharapova held her serve in the seventh game to claw her way back to 3-4. Kvitova broke serve to love in the final game to seal the first set with 6-3 after 46 minutes as Sharapova hit a volley into the net.
Sharapova earned her first break points of the match in the first game of the second set but Kvitova saved them to hold her serve. Sharapova saved five break point chances in a very long second game winning the game point at deuce with a groundstroke onto the line. At 1-2 Sharapova had a cofortable hold in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Sharapova got her first break of the match in the fifth game to take the 3-2 lead. Kvitova broke back to love to draw level to 3-3 after a double fault and two attempted drop-shots into the net by Sharapova.
In a 11-minute seventh game Kvitova saved break points before holding her serve with a forehand winner. In the 8th game Sharapova earned a game point with a slice before holding her serve to draw level to 4-4 with a serve and a winner. Kvitova made two double faults at 4-4 40-15. Sharapova took advantage to break serve at deuce for 5-4. Once again Sharapova proved to be one of the fiercest competitors when she served out in the most crucial moment of the match to love to force the match to the third set.
Both players held their serve in the first four games of the decider without any break points. sharapova rallied from 15-30 down to break serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead. Sharapova held serve to consolidate her break for 4-2. Sharapova got the double break to pull away to 5-2 as Kvitova made her 8th double fault of the match on break point. Sharapova closed out with a forehand winner to hold her serve to love for 6-2 after a hard-fought match.
Kvitova has lost for the third time in 26 Fed Cup match since 2011. Before today’s defeat the Czech player lost against Ana Ivanovic in the 2012 final in the O2 Arena in Prague and against Roberta Vinci in the semifinal of the 2013 Fed Cup Final in Palermo.
“It’s an incredible achievement for me because I have never been in a Fed Cup Final. Petra played an unbelievable first set. She was so aggressive, hitting really deep all the strokes. I didn’t have the momentum in tbe first set. I felt once I got the energy back”, said Sharapova
