WTA Nov 5-6 2011 Fed Cup Final Fed Cup World Group Final: Czech Republic 3 at Russia 2 Free Live Video (popup) Live Scores - in popup window brackets & results - news pics: DL | Y!: sports - news mp3 audio: interviews Russia: n15 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova n19 d90 Svetlana Kuznetsova n27 d7 Maria Kirilenko n57 d10 Elena Vesnina Captain: Shamil Tarpischev Czech Rep: n2 d365 Petra Kvitova n24 d133 Lucie Safarova n46 d15 Lucie Hradecka nNR d2 Kveta Peschke Captain: Petr Pala

Other Fed Cup pages: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Moscow: d#2 Kveta Peschke & d#15 Lucie Hradecka Moscow: L Hradecka, K Peschke, Lucie Safarova, & Petra Kvitova

On Sunday in Moscow, in the third match of the 2011 Fed Cup final, this year's winner at the WTA Championships, and at Wimbledon and Madrid, 21 year old #2 (career high: #2) Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead by defeating the 2009 French Open and 2004 US Open champion, 25 year old #19 (career high: #2) Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.     Svetlana took a 3-0 lead at the start of the 3rd set. Petra said: "When I had three-love down, I didn't think that I can still win. My captain told me, 'It's only one break, so go for it.' It was very important game for me." Fed Cup story     Svetlana said: "I played well today, but she was just a bit better on key moments,." AP story     In Sunday's next match, the 2011 (and 2010) Monterrey champion, 20 year old 17th seeded #18 (high: #13) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Moscow, Russia, evened up the score by defeating the 2006 champion at Gold Coast, 24 year old #24 (career high: #22) Lucie Safarova from Brno, Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4.     Anastasia said: "It's all about motivation, because nowhere else can I motivate myself like I'm motivating here when playing Fed Cup. This is what I'm going to work on this season, because I'm just asking myself, why not play all my matches like I'm playing here in Fed Cup?."     With the score tied at 2-2, the doubles was the decider. Czech Republic's Kveta Peschke & Lucie Hradecka defeated Russia's Maria Kirilenko & Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic their first Fed Cup title (the combined nation of Czechoslovakia did win the title in 1988), defeating 2004, '05, '07 & '08 Fed Cup champs Russia, 3-2 (Kveta and Lucie are shown after match point, and the Czech team with the Fed Cup at the award ceremony).

    In the 2012 World Group 1st Round (QFs), Feb 4-5 (teams actually playing for the Fed Cup) Spain will play at Russia (Shamil Tarpischev has said that Maria Sharapova is expected to play), Czech Republic will play at Germany, Ukraine will play at Italy, and Serbia will play at Belgium.

    In the 2012 World Group II 1st Round, Feb 4-5 (teams playing to get into the 2013 World Group), Belarus will play at USA, France will play at Slovakia, Switzerland will play at Australia, and Slovenia will play at Japan.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group Final: n=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

Czech Republic 3 at Russia 2  Olympic Stadium, Moscow indoor: hard (RuKortHard) Saturday, Nov 5, 2011 1000 GMT 1 n2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n27 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-2, 6-2 Petra driving a backhand, and Maria running down a forehand     Maria said: "Right now Petra Kvitova is on top of her game. She played quite a match today. I tried my best; it just didn't work."     About Sunday's matches, Petra said: "I just try my best, like always, and win the second or third point tomorrow." Fed Cup story 2 n19 d90 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d n24 d133 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6-3 Lucie and Svetlana driving backhands     Svetlana has been on three Russian Fed Cup champion teams. Svetlana said: "I felt colossal pressure. But if I was playing that rubber in the year 2004, I think I would feel really tight and jittery. Now I have more expertise, and that expertise helped me to motivate myself and to motivate myself in the right direction."     On Sunday, Petra will play Svetlana (first meeting). Lucie was slated to play Maria in the 4th match, but Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has said at Twitter that she will play that match instead of Maria. The substitution is not yet listed officially, but player changes for the second match of the day can be made until ten minutes after the conclusion of the first match.     Changes in the doubles line-up can be made up to 15 minutes after the end of the second singles match on Sunday. With Anastasia playing the singles, Maria Kirilenko, currently world #7 at doubles, might play in the doubles instead of Anastasia. Anastasia and Elena Vesnina were slated to play against Kveta Peschke & Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. Sunday, Nov 6, 2011 1000 GMT ITF story 3 n2 Petra Kvitova CZE d n19 d90 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 Petra and Svetlana driving forehand and backhand 4 n15 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d n24 d133 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-2, 6-4 Lucie and Anastasia driving forehand and backhand 5 d2 Kveta Peschke & d15 Lucie Hradecka CZE d d7 Maria Kirilenko & d10 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-4, 6-2 Kveta volleying a backhand, and Maria reaching for a forehand volley Russia: n15 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova n19 d90 Svetlana Kuznetsova n27 d7 Maria Kirilenko n57 d10 Elena Vesnina n7 d85 Vera Zvonareva withdrew; shoulder injury Captain: Shamil Tarpischev Czech Republic: n2 d365 Petra Kvitova n24 d133 Lucie Safarova n46 d15 Lucie Hradecka nNR d2 Kveta Peschke Captain: Petr Pala

Fed Cup Rules Overview     Fed Cup "ties" consist of 5 matches ("rubbers"), 4 singles and 1 doubles. Each country's # 1 singles player plays the other country's # 2 singles player the first day (the order of play decided by lot), and on the 2nd day they swap and the # 1s play each other, followed by the # 2s, followed by the doubles match. The teams are run by non-playing "captains" who are usually highly-regarded coaches and/or former players. The 3rd and 4th players on each team, at the captain's discretion, might not play at all, or might play doubles, or might substitute for an injured or struggling # 1 or # 2 player.     Only teams in World Group are playing for the Cup itself. Teams in World Group II are playing to get into the World Group (formerly known as World Group I) next year; teams in "Zonal Groups" are playing to get into World Group II in a future year.     Fed Cup rules state that player changes for the day's opening singles match must be made by the captains with the referee one hour prior to the start of play. Player changes for the second match of the day must be made by ten minutes after the conclusion of the first match. On Sunday, changes in the doubles line-up can be made up to 15 minutes after the end of the second singles match.

Fed Cup Structure Overview     About 80 nations are competing in Fed Cup play at 3 levels. 2005 was the first year that the Fed Cup used a a 3-tiered system similar to the Davis Cup system. 8 teams compete at the top level, called World Group (formerly called World Group I), and 8 more teams at the 2nd level, called World Group II. The remaining 73 teams are placed in Zonal Groups I, II, and III. Only the 8 teams in World Group are competing to win the Fed Cup in any given year; the teams in the lower 2 levels are competing to move up into World Group.     The 4 1st round (quarterfinal) winners in World Group each year will remain in World Group the following year. The four 1st round losers in World Group each year will play off against the 4 winners from World Group II, to determine the other 4 entries in World Group for the following year; the 4 losers of these playoffs are in World Group II the following year. Similarly, the 4 losers from World Group II each year will playoff against 4 Zonal Group winners to determine the other 4 members of World Group II the following year.     All these playoffs are held at the same time as the World Group semifinals, which are the weekend following Wimbledon.     So, essentially the teams play their 1st "tie" to try to advance, and if they lose, they play a 2nd "tie" which they must win to avoid being demoted. full explanation of Fed Cup structure     The remaining 73 nations playing Fed Cup tennis will play in "Zonal Groups" this year, trying to get into World Group II in the future.     There are three Zonal Groups, which also have levels, called groups, that the teams must work their way up through. The Europe/Africa Zone has 3 levels, while the Americas Zone and the Asia/Oceania Zone each have 2 levels.     Thus a team playing in Group III of the Europe/Africa Zone is trying to get into E/A Group II next year, E/A Group I the following year, World Group II the year after that, then to get into World Group I, and then, if they kept winning each year, can play in World Group I for the Fed Cup.

WTA Apr 16-17 2011 Fed Cup SFs Fed Cup World Group SFs: Free Live Video (popup) WG & WGII Live Scores - in popup Italy 0 at Russia 5 Czech Rep. 3 at Belgium 2 World Group Playoffs: USA 0 at Germany 5 France 1 at Spain 4 Serbia 2 at Slovak Rep. 2 Ukraine 3 at Australia 2 World Group II Playoffs: Estonia 0 at Belarus 5 Canada 2 at Slovenia 3 Sweden 1 at Switzerland 4 Argentina 0 at Japan 4     * PPD to July 16-17 due to earthquake brackets-results - news pics: DL - Y!: sports - news mp3 audio: interviews & podcasts

Other Fed Cup pages: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Charleroi: d18 Iveta Benesova       d16 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 5' 7" 123½lb LH 2H-BH                   5'4½" 132½lb RH 2H-BH Moscow: #3 Vera Zvonareva 5' 7¾" 130½lb RH 2H-BH

On Sunday in Moscow, Russia, in the semifinals of the 2011 Fed Cup, this year's champion in Doha, Qatar (and 2010 US Open and Wimbledon finalist), 26-year-old #3 (career-high: #2) Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, defeated the 2010 Luxembourg champion, 28-year-old #37 (career high: #37) Roberta Vinci from Taranto, Italy, 6-4, 6-2 (photo shown).     The win gave the Russkis an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Italy, clinching a place for the 2004, '05, '07 & '08 Fed Cup champions in the 2011 Fed Cup final. Russia went on to win both remaining "dead rubbers," and defeated Italy 5-0.     Vera said: "I haven’t played for my country for two years and I really wanted to give this match to my team... Of course you are on the court and you are constantly thinking about it, but at the same time you are trying to concentrate on taking one point at a time and win this match. You know the situation and you are trying, but sometimes you are trying too hard and trying too hard is sometimes not good!" ITF story     Russia, knee-deep in fine female tennis pros, rotates their players on Fed Cup teams. About her possible participation in the final, Vera said: "I’m always happy to represent my country. We have some time. I think we will get together with the Captain, he will invite players and we will discuss who will be in the team, but I am always happy to play in my country and play for Russia, so hopefully. We will see."     Meanwhile, in Charleroi, Belgium, in the other 2011 Fed Cup SF, the Belgians and visiting Czechs split in singles, with this year's champion at the Paris indoor tourney, 21-year-old #18 (career high: #14) Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, defeating the 2010 Auckland champ (and a 2009 US Open semifinalist), 21-year-old #23 (career-high: #12) Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, and 25-year-old #106 Kirsten Flipkens from Mol, Belgium, defeating 25-year-old #53 (career-high: #52) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova from Pilzen, Czech Rep., 6-2, 6-3.

    That made the score at tie at 2-2 going into the final, doubles rubber. But at doubles the Czechs had a distinct advantage; Zahlavova and her partner, the 2010 champion in Fès, 28-year-old #42 (career high: #25) Iveta Benesova from Most, Czech Republic, have a combined doubles ranking of 34, while Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens are far less experienced doubles players with a cdr of 743. The Belgians kept it close, but Barbora and Iveta prevailed, 6-4, 6-4 (Iveta and Barbora are shown after match point). ITF story

    The Czechs will travel to Russia for the 2011 Fed Cup final on November 5-6. The exact venue is to be determined by May 17, but Russia does have choice of ground, and the ground they have chosen in recent years has always been in Moscow.

    In the World Group Playoffs, Germany defeated the USA 5-0 (ITF story), and Spain defeated France 3-2 (ITF story), relegating both teams to World Group II in the tiered Fed Cup structure for the first time in history.

    In 2012, the World Group (teams actually playing for the Fed Cup) will consist of Russia, Czech Rep., Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Serbia, and Ukraine.

    World Group II in 2012 (teams playing to get into the 2013 World Group) will consist of USA, France, Slovakia, Australia, Belarus, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Japan.

  Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews:

Sun Apr 17:
Vera Zvonareva d Roberta Vinci ITA | Petra Kvitova d Yanina Wickmayer • Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d Wickmayer & Flipkens BEL

Sat Apr 16:
Vera Zvonareva RUS d Sara Errani ITA • Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d Roberta Vinci ITA
Petra Kvitova CZE d Kirsten Flipkens BEL • Yanina Wickmayer BEL d Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE

Andrea Petkovic GER d Christina McHale USA • Julia Goerges GER d Melanie Oudin USA • Cap'n Mary Joe Fernandez USA • Cap'n Barbara Rittner GER

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group Semifinals: #=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

Italy 0 at Russia 5 Sports Palace Megasport, Moscow, Russia   Indoor: Hard (RuKortHard); Ball: Dunlop Fort All Court Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 1000 GMT 1 #3 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #43 Sara Errani ITA 6-0, 6-2 Sara and Vera driving backhands     Vera said: "When I woke up this morning I was nervous because I am excited to play here to play for my country. You have to work hard to stay focused and keep your concentration sometimes but I did a good job today." ITF story 2 #13 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #37 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-2, 6(4)-7, 6-1 Roberta's service toss, and Svetlana reaching for a backhand     Svetlana said: "The first set was pretty comfortable, as I think I played the right way. But in the second set [Roberta] started to come in, because I think she knew that she could not win from the baseline, and then it got a little bit tougher. In the third set I tried to keep her under pressure and that went well. Overall I think it was a good match."     Roberta said: "[Svetlana] is a great player. She has won grand slams and though I fought I lost the match. She was serving great, not spinning, but very flat, and I couldn’t break her. After that it was very tough." Sunday, Apr 17, 2011 1000 GMT 3 #3 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #37 Roberta Vinci ITA 6-4, 6-2 Roberta and Vera driving forehands, and Vera after clinching a place in the final for the Russki team 4 #21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d #43 Sara Errani ITA 7-6(5), 7-6(4) 5 d58 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & d75 Ekaterina Makarova RUS d d70 Alberta Brianti & d129 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 7-6(3), 6-1 Russia: #3 d30 Vera Zvonareva #13 d91 Svetlana Kuznetsova #21 d58 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova #39 d75 Ekaterina Makarova Captain: Shamil Tarpishev Italy: #37 d41 Roberta Vinci #43 d34 Sara Errani #96 d70 Alberta Brianti #125 d129 Maria Elena Camerin Captain: Corrado Barazzutti

Czech Rep. 3 at Belgium 2  Spiroudome, Charleroi, Belgium   Indoor: Hard (Acrylic); Ball: Dunlop Fort TP Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 1130 GMT 1 #18 Petra Kvitova CZE d #106 Kirsten Flipkens BEL 6-2, 7-6(4) Kirsten and Petra driving forehand and backhand     Petra said: "I was nervous all match so it was tough for me. I had a good start but [Kirsten] played better and better." ITF story 2 #23 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #49 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-4, 6-4 Yanina serving, and Barbora running down a forehand     Yanina said: "They were two tough sets. [Barbora] a tough opponent and it was a fight from the beginning to the end." Sunday, Apr 17, 2011 1130 GMT 3 #18 Petra Kvitova CZE d #23 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 Yanina driving a forehand, fan in the stands (and 7-time Grand Slam champion) Justine Henin looking on, and Petra driving a backhand 4 *#106 Kirsten Flipkens BEL d #49 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-2, 6-3 Barbora and Kirsten ready to swat backhands 5 d16 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova & d18 Iveta Benesova CZE d d160 Yanina Wickmayer & d583 Kirsten Flipkens BEL 6-4, 6-4 Iveta and Barbora after winning a point Belgium: #23 d160 Yanina Wickmayer #106 d583 Kirsten Flipkens #434 d950 An-Sophie Mestach #604 dNR Alison Van Uytvanck Captain: Sabine Applemans Czech Repbublic: #18 d203 Petra Kvitova #42 d18 Iveta Benesova #49 d16 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova #65 d45 Lucie Hradecka Captain: Petr Pala     Apr 16-17 World Group Playoffs & World Group II Playoffs: April 16: Stuttgart: Julia Goerges (GER) while defeating Christina McHale (USA), Andrea Petkovic (GER) after defeating Melanie Oudin (USA)... Bratislava: Ana Ivanovic (SRB) after defeating Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)... row 2: Lugano: Patty Schnyder (SUI) while defeating Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)... Lleida: Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) after defeating Virginie Razzano (FRA), Aravane Rezai (FRA) while defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)... Melbourne: Jarmila Groth (AUS) while defeating Olga Savchuk (UKR)... April 17: Stuttgart: Julia Goerges, Andrea Petkovic, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki after the German team defeated USA in the World Group playoffs... Bratislava: Alekxandra Krunic & Jelena Jankovic (SRB) while defeating Daniela Hantuchova & Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) in the deciding doubles 6-2, 5-7, 7-9, putting Serbia into the 2012 World Group... Lugano: Patty Schnyder (SUI) receives a little bouquet for her 50th career Fed Cup victory after defeating Johanna Larsson (SWE) to put Switzerland into World Group II in 2012...

WTA Feb 6-7 2010 Fed Cup QFs Fed Cup Free Live Video (popup) WG & WGII Live Scores - in popup window World Group QFs (Round 1): Italy 4 at Australia 1 USA 1 at Belgium 4 France 2 at Russia 3 Czech. 3 at Slovak. 2 World Group II: Canada 2 at Serbia 3 Germany 4 at Slovenia 1 Spain 4 at Estonia 1 Ukraine 3 at Sweden 2 Zonal Groups: 2011 Zonal Venues Asia/Oceania Americas Europe/Africa brackets-results - news pics: DL - Y!: sports - news mp3 audio: interviews & podcasts

Other Fed Cup pages: 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Antwerp: #2 Kim Clijsters 5' 8½" 150lb RH 2H-BH Hobart: #16 Flavia Pennetta 5'7¾" 128lb RH 2H-BH Moscow: #14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & #23 Svetlana Kuznetsova Bratislava: #18 Petra Kvitova 6'0" 154lb LH 2H-BH

On Sunday, in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in the 1st round (quarterfinals) of the 2011 Fed Cup, the 2010 champion at Marbella, Spain, 28-year-old #16 (career high: #10) Flavia Pennetta of Italy (residence: Verbier, Switzerland), defeated the 2010 champion in Guangzhou, 23-year-old #31 (career high: #31) Jarmila Groth from Melbourne, Australia, 7-6(5), 6(5)-7, 6-4 (photo shown).     Flavia's compatriot, #4 Francesca Schiavone, had defeated #5 Samantha Stosur of Australia in the first match of the day, 6(4)-7, 6-3, 6-3. Flavia's win gave 2006, '09, & '10 Fed Cup champs Italy an insurmountable 3-1 lead over the Aussies. Italy will play at Russia in the Fed Cup semifinals on April 16-17.     Flavia said: "Yesterday we could have been 2-0 or 0-2, so we are happy to have won 3-1. It was tough for everyone because both teams are so good. You have to be ready for everything. Everyone played really good tennis and there wasn’t much difference but you have to believe you can win." ITF story     Jarmila said: "Obviously I am disappointed I lost, but all the matches this weekend were good. I think against Flavia I tried to play too much of her style. I didn’t serve very well and she didn’t give me too many mistakes. She won the crucial points."     Meanwhile in Antwerp, Belgium, the 2011 Australian Open champion (and 2005, 2009 & 2010 US Open champion), 27 year old #2 (and former #1) Kim Clijsters from Bree, Belgium, defeated 25-year-old #48 Bethanie Mattek-Sands from Miami, Florida, 6(10)-7, 6-2, 6-1 (photo shown).     The win gave Belgium and 3-0 lead over the Americans, and put them into semifinals. Belgium will host the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup semis in April.     Kim was not surprised by the close 1st set. Kim said: "I was expecting that when I came out at the start of the match. I played [Bethanie] a few months ago, and she played a really, really tough match, a very high level, and she did that in the first set today as well." ITF story

    On Sunday in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, the 2011 champ at Brisbane (& 2009 Hobart champ), 20-year-old #34 Petra Kvitova from Fulnek, Czech Republic, defeated the 2002 & '07 Indian Wells champ, 27-year-old #32 (career high: #5) Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia (residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco), 6-4, 6-2 (photo shown).

    The win gave the Czechs a 3-0 lead over their hosts, and clinched their place in the Fed Cup semifinals in April, when they will travel to play at Belgium. ITF story

    On Sunday in Moscow, Russia, the last match, the doubles "rubber," was the decider. 25-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova (a former #3 at doubles) and 19-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, defeated 21-year-old Alizé Cornet and 28-year-old Julie Coin of France, 7-6(4), 6-0 (photo shown). The Russkis had trailed 0-2 after the first day, but both Svetlana and Anastasia won their singles, to level the score at 2-2 going into the doubles.

    2004, '05, '07 & '08 Fed Cup champions Russia will host 2006, '09, & '10 champs Italy in the Fed Cup semifinals on April 16-17. Captain Shamil Tarpischev says that #3 Vera Zvonareva will be on the Russian team in April.

    • In The World Group Playoffs on April 16-17, World Group quarterfinal losers will play off against World Group II winners: USA at Germany, Ukraine at Australia, France at Spain, and Serbia at Slovak Republic. Winners of these "ties" will be in the World Group in 2012; losers will be in World Group II.

    Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the highest ranked US players, will have to play for the US on April 16-17, or at least declare themselves available and show up for the event, in order to maintain their elegibility (under ITF rules) for the 2012 Olympic Games. Tennis.com story

    • In the World Group II Playoffs on April 16-17, Zonal promotional playoff winners and the losers of the February World Group II matchups will play: Argentina at Japan, Estonia at Belarus, Canada at Slovenia, and Sweden at Switzerland. The winners of those "ties" on Apr 16-17 will comprise half of World Group II next year, losers will be relegated to the Zonal Groups.

    (Mar 21, 2011 revised Mar 23) Due to the earthquake in Japan, the Argentina at Japan Fed Cup World Group II Playoff scheduled for April 16-17 has been postponed to July 16-17, and moved from Tokyo to an indoor hard court at Bourbon Beans Dome, Kobe, Japan. ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “In light of these dreadful and exceptional circumstances, we felt it was important to give the JTA [Japanese Tennis Association] the opportunity still to host the tie and for Fed Cup to play its very small part in the healing process of a nation."

  Fed Cup mp3 Audio Interviews:

Sun Feb 6:
Flavia Pennetta d Jarmila Groth - Samantha Stosur - Rennae Stubbs | Kim Clijsters d Bethanie Mattek-Sands - BEL Capt Sabine Appelmans
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d Alize Cornet - Virginie Razzano | Petra Kvitova d Daniela Hantuchova - Lucie Safarova

Sat Feb 5:
Alize Cornet d Svetlana Kuznetsova | Flavia Pennetta d Samantha Stosur - Jarmila Groth d Francesca Schiavone
Kim Clijsters d Melanie Oudin - Yanina Wickmayer - USA Cap MJ Fernandez - BEL Cap S Appelmans | Lucie Safarova d Daniela Hantuchova - Petra Kvitova

Fri Feb 4 (Draw):
Maria Sharapova - Alize Cornet - Svetlana Kuznetsova - Dinara Safina - Virginie Razzano

WTA SCOREBOARD: Fed Cup World Group 1 Round 1 (Quarterfinals): #=rank, *=upset, d=doubles rank ranks are for the current week

Italy 4 at Australia 1   Domain Tennis Centre, Hobart, Australia | Hard (Plexicushion), Outdoor - Ball: Wilson US Open Saturday, Feb 5 0200hrs GMT ITF story 1 *#31 Jarmila Groth AUS d #4 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6(4)-7, 6-3, 6-3 Jarmila serving, Francesca fielding a backhand, and Jarmila after match point     Jarmila said: "It is my first Fed Cup singles and it is very important and exciting, and I beat someone who is No. 4 in the world. It is one of the great wins for me and I am happy and excited.     "Even though I lost the first set I played pretty well; I had so many chances. I had not played [Francesca] before so I didn’t know how to direct things, but I concentrated well and a couple of points turned the match around."     Francesca said: "I had chances when I went up 7-6, 2-0, but then I didn’t serve good the rest of the match. My level was not so high, and [Jarmila] got right shots and played good. I never seen her play, and I was passive a little bit, and she won. If she plays more consistent she will be more dangerous, but today she did enough." 2 *#16 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #5 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-6(5), 6(5)-7, 6-4 Flavia and Samantha driving backhands, and Flavia after winning a point     Flavia said: ""We both fought hard and wanted to win the point for our teams. [Samantha] had a few chances in the first and second sets, but I was playing well. This match was decided by one or two points, and it was a really good match. I think the crowd enjoyed it."     Samantha said: "Anytime you serve for the first two sets and lose, it is disappointing. We wanted a better result, but it was not to be. [Flavia is] a very tough competitor, and you don't want to make silly mistakes." Sunday, Feb 6 0000hrs GMT ITF story 3 #4 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #5 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-5 Francesca delivering a backhand, Samantha driving one, and Francesca after match point     Samantha failed to convert 5 break points in the 3rd game of the 3rd set. Francesca said: "She played terrible those points. I think then that I have the chance and the end of the match is not far away and I was able to push things some more. I think the difference in the match was that I had more chances. I never played same shot too many times. I mix it up so much and I always offer something with my tennis."     Samantha also lost to Francesca in the 2010 French Open final. Samantha said: "It might have been different if I had an early break because I was holding my serve confidently. I was getting the opportunities and not being able to take them. I couldn’t quite get the edge." 4 #16 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #31 Jarmila Groth AUS 6-3, 6-2 Jarmila and Flavia driving forehand and backhand, and Flavia after putting the Italians into the semifinals 5 d32 Sara Errani & d37 Roberta Vinci ITA d d11 Rennae Stubbs & d24 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 Italy: #4 d63 Francesca Schiavone #16 d2 Flavia Pennetta #38 d37 Roberta Vinci #44 d32 Sara Errani Captain: Corrado Barazzutti Australia: #5 d35 Samantha Stosur #31 d93 Jarmila Groth #64 d24 Anastasia Rodionova #NR d11 Rennae Stubbs Captain: David Taylor

USA 1 at Belgium 4   Sportpaleis Antwerp, Merksem, Belgium | Hard (Acrylic), Indoor - Ball: TBA Saturday, Feb 5 1230hrs GMT ITF story 1 #26 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d #48 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 6-1, 7-6(6) 2 #2 Kim Clijsters BEL d #61 Melanie Oudin USA 6-0, 6-4 Kim and Melanie driving forehands Sunday, Feb 6 1230hrs GMT ITF story 3 #2 Kim Clijsters BEL d #48 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 6(10)-7, 6-2, 6-1 Bethanie and Kim driving forehands, and Kim after putting Belgium into the semifinals 4 #26 Yanina Wickmayer BEL v #61 Melanie Oudin USA 6-2, 6-0 5 d5 Vania King & d6 Liezel Huber USA d d305 Kirsten Flipkens & #476 d743 An-Sophie Mestach BEL 6-3, 7-5 United States: #48 d13 Bethanie Mattek-Sands #61 d137 Melanie Oudin #86 d5 Vania King #NR d6 Liezel Huber Captain: Mary Joe Fernandez Belgium: #2 d386 Kim Clijsters #26 d191 Yanina Wickmayer #88 d305 Kirsten Flipkens #476 d743 An-Sophie Mestach Captain: Sabine Appelmans

France 2 at Russia 3   Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia | Hard (RuKortHard), Indoor - Ball: Wilson US Open Regular Duty Saturday, Feb 5 1200hrs GMT ITF story 1 *#67 Alizé Cornet FRA d #23 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Alize serving, and Svetlana and Alize driving backhands     Alize said: "I was a set down and 0-2 down, I just tried to keep calm and my focus and just keep on trying to do what I had to do, and I just started to play better and better."     Svetlana said: "“I have no excuses. I’ve lost a match that I should have won, in any case. I opened strongly but then started to hurry and do strange things, and that’s the result of it." AP story 2 *#83 Virginie Razzano FRA d #13 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-3, 6-4 Maria and Virginie driving forehand and backhand     The match was sloppy. Each player hit only 9 winners, but Virginie hit 29 unforced errors (3 double faults), and Maria hit 46 unforced errors (8 double faults).     Maria said: "I was giving [Virginie] far too many free points, I wasn’t serving well, and I wasn’t really being aggressive on the court and I was giving her the opportunity to hit the first ball, and I think the court really suited her today."     Virginie said: "I put a lot of pressure on Maria’s returns today and she made a lot of double faults today. I managed to serve well today and I am really pleased with the way I played." Sunday, Feb 6 1100hrs GMT ITF story 3 #14 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d #67 Alizé Cornet FRA 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 4 #23 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #83 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 6-4 Virginie serving, Svetlana driving a backhand, and after match point 5 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & d159 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d d71 Alizé Cornet & d77 Julie Coin 7-6(4) 6-0 Anastasia and Svetlana after match point     Anastasia said: "We had never played doubles together before, so it was the first time we had played together on court. This might explain why we had a few problems at the beginning, but things became easier as the match went on and I think that was reflected by the scoreline in the second set." Russia: #13 dNR Maria Sharapova #14 d61 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova #23 d159 Svetlana Kuznetsova #117 d170 Dinara Safina Captain: Shamil Tarpischev France: #67 d71 Alizé Cornet #83 dNR Virginie Razzano #100 d596 Pauline Parmentier #262 d77 Julie Coin Captain: Nicolas Escude

Czech Republic 3 at Slovak Repbublic 2   Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, Slovak Republic | Hard (Latex-ite), Indoor - Ball: Wilson Australian Open Saturday, Feb 5 1300hrs GMT ITF story 1 #30 Lucie Safarova CZE d #32 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 7-5, 6-1 Daniela's service toss, Lucie driving a backhand, and after match point 2 #18 Petra Kvitova CZE d #27 Dominika Cibulkova SVK 6-2, 6-3 Sunday, Feb 6 1200hrs GMT ITF story 3 #18 Petra Kvitova CZE d #32 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-4, 6-2 Petra and Daniela running down forehands, and Petra after putting the Czechs into the semifinals     Petra said: "I started very well again. My serve was good… everything was good. I’m happy with the way I played, and very happy that we are in the semifinals again."     Daniela said: "[Petra] played unbelievable tennis... she plays like she has nothing to lose. I think it’s just a matter of time before she cracks the Top 10." 4 *#437 Jana Cepelova SVK d #30 Lucie Safarova CZE 4-6, 7-6(5) retired 5 d62 Magdalena Rybarikova & d650 Jana Cepelova d d3 Kveta Peschke & d14 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4) Czech Republic: #18 d200 Petra Kvitova #30 d114 Lucie Safarova #56 d14 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova #NR d3 Kveta Peschke Captain: Petr Pala Slovak Republic: #27 d115 Dominika Cibulkova #32 d92 Daniela Hantuchova #101 d62 Magdalena Rybarikova #437 d650 Jana Cepelova Captain: Matej Liptak

    (Jan 26, 2011) 7-time Grand Slam champion and former WTA #1 Justine Henin has retired. The elbow injury she incurred last year at Wimbledon is not healing, and she has been playing in pain. Doctors now tell Justine that the injury will not heal.

    Justine said: "I spent the last days undergoing various medical tests and they have confirmed that my elbow has been damaged by my adventure in Australia. After my crash at Wimbledon in June, I knew it would be difficult to come back. But I had decided to keep playing and to give everything to overcome the injury. In these recent months I have rarely been spared from the pain, those last months were very hard. Time has passed, and the doubts have grown, and only return to the courts would give me answers. Not the answer I was hoping for... unfortunately. I suffered a lot the last week and every day gave me more and more pain, but I believed that my will would take the upper hand. Today, the examinations are clearly and and the doctors [say] formally, my elbow is too fragile and hurt so that my passion and my profession at high level cannot continue to exist." Justine Henin official website

    28-year-old Justine Henin from Brussels, Belgium, previously retired on May 14, 2008, but returned to play in January, 2010. She has won 43 WTA singles titles, starting with Antwerp in 1999 and ending with 's-Hertogenbosch; in 2010, including the 2003, '05, '06, & '07 French Open, the 2003 & '07 US Open, and the 2004 Australian Open. She had a 525-115 record in singles matches. Justine won a career-total of $20,917,513 in prize money, and was ranked #1 in the world for 117 weeks.

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