Ana Ivanovic beat Mona Barthel in straight sets (no surprise, given Barthel's return to the Spring Slump) in today's Fed Cup World Group Play-Offs, and will play Angelique Kerber tomorrow. Kerber defeated Bojana Jovanovski. This is the World Group tie that could go anywhere. To predict that Barthel will defeat Jovanovski is to not take the German player's current problems into consideration. But--going on the assumption that Barthel will pull herself together and win her second rubber--it will all come down to how Kerber handles Ivanovic. If the play-off should go to a fifth rubber, just about anything could happen.
If Sloane Stephens needed more pressure, she got it by being assigned to her first Fed Cup play-off as a singles competitor. She lost to Sofia Arvidsson, and is anyone surprised? Either Venus Williams or Varvara Lepchenko would have been a better choice for the task, but with the Williams sisters around, captain Mary Joe Fernandez could afford to be flexible in her assignments. At least the Swedish team won't go home with a zero next to its name.
The Switzerland vs. Australia play-off was rained out today, so there's likely to be some doubling up tomorrow, if the weather is okay.
Other play-off scores can be seen here.
Petra finally turned it on and turned the Errani match into a demolition and clinic: How to beat a dogged pusher - on the pusher's surface, facing the favored pusher weather, and a crazed pusher's crowd. Pojd!
ReplyDeleteThe Italians should freeze holy water and sell Popesicles, in the hope that divine intervention will materialize. Now it's up to Lucie to beat Vinci.
If, by chance, Safarova beats Vinci (and I don't think she will, but this is Fed Cup, so who knows), then the rain delay kind of favors Italy because at least Errani will be rested.
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