A duo of wins by Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic has guided France to a comprehensive 4-1 win over Italy in the first round of the Fed Cup.
The tie was level after the first day of action following wins by Camila Giorgi against Kristina Mladenovic, which put Italy in the lead, before France’s Caroline Garcia leveled the tie with a straight sets win over Sara Errani.
The final day of action got underway with Mladenovic against Errani. There was little to distinguish between both players during their opening set. Errani started off well by breaking for an early 2-0 lead before her French rival broke back in the sixth game. The roller coaster opening set consisted of four breaks of service (two each) as the proceedings went into a tiebreak. Mladenovic dominated the start of the tiebreaker after breaking Vinci to rush to a 5-2 lead. The world No.22 responded by retrieving both of her breaks, however, the hard work was wasted after Mladenovic broke two more times to secure the first set.
The second set was a disappointing performance by Errani as she struggled in her service games. The Italian won only 42% of her first service points and 22% of her second as Mladenovic dominated the set to ease to the 7-6 (4), 6-1, victory. Incredibly the Frenchwoman produced 33 winners throughout the match compared to Errani’s lonely seven.
The mood in the Italian camp worsened during the fourth match of the tie between Garcia and Giorgi. There are only two places separating the players in the rankings with Garcia ranked slightly higher at 38th. Nevertheless, it was France that was once again in control of the match. Two consecutive breaks of service during the end of the opening set allowed Garcia to take the first set after 44 minutes of play.
The winning momentum was continued into the second set by Garcia as she faced no break points. An early break to love in the third game of the set was decisive to the outcome of the match and the tie. After dropping her serve top trail 1-3, Giorgi was unable to find a way to get herself back in the match. Garcia sealed her 6-3,6-4, triumph in 83 minutes to book France’s place in the Fed Cup semifinals.
The Sunday whitewash was concluded with a dominating doubles performance by Garcia and Mladenovic. Facing the unfamiliar duo of Errani and world No.257 Martina Caregaro, the French Pairing dropped just one game during their 6-0, 6-1, hammering.
Their triumph over Italy has set France up with a showdown against the Netherlands. The Dutch team stunned Russia in their fed Cup tie. It will be the first meeting between the two countries since the 1997 Fed Cup final. On that occasion France took the tie 4-1.
