the Czechs’ charge on Monday evening in style, with a 77-minute victory over former Top 10 player Andrea Petkovic, 6-1, 6-3. But in a battle between Top 10 players, World No.9 Angelique Kerber of Germany triumphed over World No.3 Barbora Krejcikova, 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4, leveling the tie at one win apiece.
Kerber, back in the Top 10 this week for the first time since July of 2019, broke reigning Roland Garros champion Krejcikova seven times in the clash. Germany, twice a Billie Jean King Cup champion in 1987 and 1992, were a win away from upsetting last decade’s dominant force.
However, the Czechs’ deep doubles squad clinched the victory in the end. WTA Doubles World No.2 Katerina Siniakova paired with veteran doubles star Lucie Hradecka to edge Anna-Lena Friedsam and Jule Niemeier of Germany, 6-4, 6-7(2), [10-8].
Siniakova and Hradecka were nearly blanked in the second-set tiebreak, but they gritted out the deciding match-tiebreak to collect a hard-fought win in an hour and 42 minutes in front of partisan supporters in their nation’s capital.
Spain went even later in the evening to win their tie, going until nearly 12:30 a.m. local time to squeak past Slovakia 2-1. The evening started off well for Slovakia with Viktoria Kuzmova defeating former Top 10 player Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. But Sara Sorribes Tormo leveled the tie with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in a grueling 2 hours and 45 minutes.
After their tough singles matches, Sorribes Tormo and Suárez Navarro jumped into the critical doubles tie as well, and they earned a 4-6, 6-2, [10-7] win over Kuzmova and Tereza Mihalikova. Suárez Navarro, who peaked at World No.6 in 2016, is playing the final event of her career at the end of her farewell season. Suárez Navarro made an emotional return to tour earlier this year after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
