Czech Republic beat Germany in a late-night tie on Day 1 of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals to the delight of local fans at the O2 Arena in Prague.
The home team scored a decisive win in the doubles match after midnight to take a 2-1 win over Germany.
Olympic silver medallist and former Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova cruised past former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic 6-1 6-3 after 77 minutes.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber came back from one set down to beat this year’s Roland Garros champion and world number 3 Barbora Krejicikova 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 6-4 with seven breaks of serve levelling the tie at one win apiece.
Doubles world number 2 Katerina Siniakova and Lucie Hradecka battled past Anna-Lena Friedsam and Jule Niemeier 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 10-8 in a hard-fought doubles match in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Spain beats Slovakia
Spain fought past Slovakia 2-1 in a late evening match which ended at 12.30 local time.
Viktoria Kuzmova beat former top ten player Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the first singles match. Sara Sorribes Tormo edged past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3 3-6 6-2 after 2 hours and 45 minutes to draw level to 1-1.
Suarez Navarro and Sorribes Tormo rallied from one set down to beat Kuzmova and Tereza Mihailova 4-6 6-2 10-7. Suarez Navarro made a come-back earlier this year from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
