Lucie Safarova aids Czech Republic to defend the Fed Cup title – Tennis News
With Team Czech Republic aiming to defend its Fed Cup title, all eyes were fixed on the crafty left-hander Petra Kvitova leading her side to victory. Czech fans were extremely concerned about Kvitova’s ill health and feared that
she will not be able to deliver her best in the final of the Fed Cup World Group final. Kvitova’s loss to Ana Ivanovic in the third singles rubber doubled the fear of Czech fans that they might lose the all-important tie and slip away the coveted Fed Cup title.
However, no one expected a lesser-known Czech contestant to come as the hero and save the day for her side.
World number 17, Lucie Safarova, became the redeemer of Team Czech Republic last weekend with two stunning rubber victories in the final tie of the Fed Cup. She outplayed two of the former world number one players from Serbia,
Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, to assist her team register a 3-1 score and successfully defended the coveted team-event title for her country.
It was already known that Kvitova was not having her best physical fitness and was lagging in form as well. Although the left-handed Czech was heavily relied upon, the defending champions needed another player from their squad
to step forward against the might of the strong Serbian rivals. Safarova rose to the occasion and her straight sets wins over the Serbian tennis spearheads sealed the deal for her side. The 17th ranked blonde was absolutely delighted on her performance
at the time her team needed the most from her.
"It's hard to describe how I feel. I played an unbelievable game," Safarova said. "I desperately wanted to win and I'm really delighted. It's fantastic to win at home, in Prague. I played one of the best matches of my career. Here
at home in this type of crowd, it's indescribable, it's an amazing feeling. There are so many emotions and happiness and that is the feeling we are practicing for every day, even if you're not in the mood to work."
Safarova started off the proceedings from her side and took down Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-3, in the opening singles rubber. The Czech number one, Kvitova, further struck a crucial blow by defeating Jankovic, 6-4, 6-1, in the next matchup
to finish the day with a 2-0 score line for her side. She couldn’t repeat the similar display of class against Ivanovic the other day and surprisingly fell to her 3-6, 5-7. Safarova had to win the fourth singles rubber against Jankovic to take her side to
victory and she did exactly the same, registering a thumping 6-1, 6-1, victory over her opponent to make Czech Republic the Fed Cup champion for second successive year.
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