The absence of two-time Australian Open Victoria Azarenka has been proven irrelevant after Belarus completed a shock 3-1 win over the Netherlands to reach their first Fed Cup semifinal.
Belarus was level with their Dutch rival after the opening day, but the closeness between the two started to unravel on Sunday. World No.128 Aliaksandra Sasnovich fired 19 winners to give her country a 2-1 lead after a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4, win over Kiki Bertens. The triumph ends Bertens eight-match winning streak in Fed Cup singles matches. The Dutch player last lost in the tournament was to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in 2015.
“I’m very happy,” Sasnovich said.
“I knew how to play against Bertens after watching yesterday’s Aryna (Sabalenka) match with her. That match boosted my self-confidence a great deal.”
Tasked with trying to take her country into their first Fed Cup semifinal was 18-year-old Aryna Sabalenka, a player who is yet to break the world’s top 100. Facing the significantly more experienced Michaella Krajicek, Sabalenka, who produced an impressive 35 winners, recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the first set to triumph 7-6(5), 6-4.
“It’s unbelievable! It’s an incredible feeling,” Sabalenka said.
“We all acted as a single unit and that was the key to our success. I failed to recover completely after yesterday’s match with Kiki Bertens and experienced some problems with my serve. But everything ended well.”
Belarus only has four players ranked inside the top 300 on the WTA Tour, one of which is in the top 100 (Azarenka at 19th). In the semifinals, they will play either Switzerland or France. Belarus has never played France in the Fed Cup, but trails 1-2 in their head-to-head against the Swiss team.
Full results
Day 1
Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) beat Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4 Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) beat Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) 4-6 6-3 6-2 Day 2
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) beat Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) 7-6(5) 6-4 Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) beat Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-3 6-4
