Billie Jean King Cup – The Czech Republic begins with a narrow victory in the final tournament for the Billie Jean King Cup in Prague. In the first match of Group D, the hosts beat Germany 2-1 till late night.
Brought the final double decision. Clear favorites Lucie Heradeka and double Olympic champion Katerina Sinyakova beat Anna-Lena Freedom and Jule Niemeyer 6:4, 6:7 (2:7), 10:8 after midnight. Barbora Krejcikova failed to play doubles after a three-set loss in singles against Angelique Kerber.
In the first man, Marketa Vondrosova (WTA 35) made short work of Andrea Petkovic (WTA 76) in a nearly half-filled O2 field and won 6:1, 6:3.
Germany will play their second group match against Switzerland on Tuesday evening and will need a win to reach the semi-finals. “The Swiss women are now across the board, having lost once in less than 24 hours,” Petkovic said. It’s clear to the former top ten player: “Our group is the hammer group of the Billie Jean King Cup.”
The match between Spain and Slovakia also ended later, with the pair’s super tiebreak also turning the decision in favor of the Spaniards. Canada and Belgium also took early victories.
