(April 17, 2016) The U.S. now moves back to competing in the World Group next year by beating Australia, 4-0, in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff on an outdoor clay court in Pat Rafter Arena at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Australia.
In the first match of the day, world No. 36 CoCo Vandeweghe came from a set down to beat world No. 26 Samantha Stosur, 26, 75, 64, in two hours and 18 minutes to clinch the victory for the United States. The win was also the first in her Fed Cup singles career for Vandeweghe who now moves to 1-3. Vandeweghe also moved her lifetime record to 4-1 against Stosur. The U.S. team is now 3-1 when Coco takes the court. The Christina McHale-Daria Gavrilova match was not played.
“Well, I mean Sam’s a phenomenal player and I actually really enjoy playing against her because she is that phenomenal player,” said Vandeweghe. “This is the first time we ever played on clay, so I mean, all the other surfaces were quicker, hardcourts or grass. So I knew this would be more well suited for her game, she’d be more comfortable than I would be. But you know, I still stuck to my game plan of trying to implement my game to her before she could definitely get me off balance and that’s pretty much what I try to do against her most of the time when we play.”
“Well that was the first Fed Cup singles win that I’ve ever had,” she said. “The first time I ever played was in a final and I really didn’t rise to the occasion too well, I was – I think I was like 18 or something the first time I played and, you know, that was really disappointing for me as a player and also as a player representing the United States. So, I mean I think it’s such a privilege to play for the United States and I think it’s always been my No.1 goal to play for my country and to make the Olympic team eventually more so than Grand Slams and stuff like that. It was just the way I was raised.
In the dead doubles rubber, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe faced Daria Gavrilova and Arina Rodionova. Daria and Arina were substituted for Casey Dellacqua and Samantha Stosur. In the end, Mattek-Sands and Vandeweghe won the match, 61, 64, in one hour and 17 minutes. With the victory Mattek-Sands and Vandeweghe remain undefeated as a doubles team. In Fed Cup, Mattek-Sands moved her doubles record to 5-0 record while Vandeweghe moved to 3-0.
“No the whole team is MVP, they all did their part, they all contributed,” said United Stated Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez. “I always say the first match kind of gives you the momentum, I always say the first match is critical. So Madison got us off to such a great start. Hooray. And then Christina picked it up and played really, really well and fought so hard towards the end of the match, and then Coco today came back, a set and 2-love down, and you know, fought as well. So it was an amazing effort to turn that match around and the doubles went great too. So I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them.”
The U.S. remains undefeated at 22-0 when leading after the first day of play (since the World Group format was instituted in 1995). The U.S. also improves to 10-12 all-time in Fed Cup ties played on the road, and holds an overall 146-36 record. The victory also moves the Fed Cup teams record to 11-3 in matches played in Australia/New Zealand.
With the victory, the U.S. advances to the World Group in 2017. The 2017 Fed Cup draw will be made in mid-November after the World Group Finals.