Sunday, February 12, 2017

Anything can happen in Fed Cup



Just ask team Germany.

One doesn't expect a sporting weekend on the island of Maui--land of waterfalls and bamboo forests-- to turn into a windy, rainy, physically and emotionally precarious curse for a visiting European country. But it did.

Things got off to a dreadful start in the World Group USA vs. Germany tie when a singer rendered the now-banned version of the German national anthem--the one that was popular in the 30s. The USTA profusely apologized for the error, but both Captain Barbara Rittner and Andrea Petkovic let their anger be known, in no uncertain terms. Rittner said, "This  is a real scandal and is inexcusable," while Petkovic called it "the epitome of ignorance." German Fed Cup team member Julia Goerges said she cried from anger while the song was being sung.

It's next to impossible for reasonable people to understand how something like this could ever have occurred, but there was actually a worse tennis situation involving Germany in 2005. The official program of the German Open, which used to be a premier event played in Berlin, contained an entire page of nostalgia for the country's "Golden Age," when Jews were run out of Germany. Tournament officials said they had no idea how the page got into the program.

Notable has been the (public--she is reported to have apologized to Rittner) silence and absence of USTA chairwoman (yes, USTA--she's a woman) and president Katrina Adams, who generally inserts herself into every photo, interview and trophy presentation known to pro tennis humanity.

Then there was a lot of rain and rain delay and a lot of fierce wind, making it difficult for the players to get any momentum going. Alison Riske defeated Petkovic in the opening rubber, which was followed by a match featuring CoCo Vandeweghe and Goerges. Goerges took a nasty spill, which resulted in a knee sprain. The match had to be stopped because of rain, but the German player was unable to continue today.

With the USA up 2-0, Vandeweghe took to the court again to play Petkovic. Andrea Petkovic has had plenty of ups and downs in her career, but Fed Cup has always been her saving grace. No matter what else has been going on during a given season, Petko has performed brilliantly in Fed Cup ties. But put her on Maui with some really bad weather and a hit tune from back in the day in Germany, and things may not go so well.

She did win the first set, and one had to wonder whether she was so fueled by anger that she would finish Vandeweghe off in straight sets. In the second set, Petkovic was five points from victory, when Vandeweghe took a medical timeout for heat illness. After being packed in ice and rubbed with ice, the Australian Open semifinalist returned to the court and won ten straight games. And that was that for Germany.

There was an attempt to play a dead doubles rubber, but the German team retired during the first set.

Defending champion Czech Republic also advanced, and will play the USA in the semifinals. Garbine Muguruza of Spain defeated Barbora Strycova with the odd scoreline of 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, then Karolina Pliskova beat both Lara Arruabarrena and Muguruza in straight sets, and Strycova beat Arruabarrena. Spain won the dead doubles rubber. The Czech team received a "good luck" message from Petra Kvitova via a video shown on the stadium's Jumbotron.

Playing without Vika Azarenka, Belarus defeated The Netherlands (because anything can happen in Fed Cup). Fed Cup beast Kiki Bertens, who almost doesn't know how to lose, won her first rubber, but then lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who had already beaten Michaella Krajicek. Aryna Sabakenka also beat Krajicek, and Belarus advanced to the semifinals. (Belarus also won the dead doubles rubber.)

Finally, Switzerland advanced with a 4-1 score (counting the dead doubles rubber) over France, last year's runner-up. Missing both Captain Amelie Mauresmo and Caroline Garcia, the French team had a lot of work to do in order to stay in the competition. Alize Cornet was there, and though Fed Cup should be a magnificent activity for someone with as much talent and fighting spirit as Cornet, it's anything but. She lost to Timea Bacsinszky in the opening rubber, and that was the last we saw of her.

Kiki Mladenovic defeated Belinda Bencic, but lost to Bacsinszky. Bencic then defeated Pauline Parmentier. Once again, there was a dead doubles rubber, which Switzerland won.

Here are the World Group II scores:

Russia def. Chinese Taipei 4-1
Belgium def. Romania 3-1
Ukraine def. Australia 3-1
Slovakia def. Italy 3-2

Romania didn't have Simona Halep, but it had some very good players--Monica Niculescu, Sorana Cirstea and Irina-Camelia Begu. But they couldn't get past Kirsten Flipkens, Yanina Wickmayer and Elise Mertens.

Ellina Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko brought the win home for Ukraine.



The Slovakia-Italy tie was a bit of an oddity. The Italian team included two veterans, Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani, part of the Fed Cup "Fighting Four, but neither of them won a rubber.

World number 119 Rebecca Sramkova beat both of them. And in a sentimental turn, Daniela Hantuchova played on the team and defeated Errani 6-2, 6-0. Missing from the Slovakian team was world number 5 Dominika Cibulkova. Present was Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, but Schiavone made quick work of her. Oh, Schmiedy.

The World Group semifinals will take place in April. The USA, under its new captain, Kathy Rinaldi, will play defending champion Czech Republic, and Belarus will play Switzerland. It's easy to imagine a Czech Republic-Switzerland final, but this is Fed Cup. Anything can happen.
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