Special congrats to Captain Kathy Rinaldi on her first @FedCup victory. ??#TeamUSATennis: https://t.co/t6jq52Eyz5 pic.twitter.com/nkVknccsCc
— USTA (@usta) February 12, 2017
(February 12, 2017) The United States moved into its first Fed cup semifinal since 2010 by besting Germany 4-0 at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Maui on Sunday.
Rain shortened play on Saturday with the U.S. up 1-0. Prior to play on Sunday, CoCo Vandeweghe won her second match when Julia Goerges retired with a right knee injury, with the American up 6-3, 3-1 when the match was called for rain.
Vandeweghe began the day coming back to beat Andrea Petkovic for the first time 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, capturing the last 10 games after taking a medical time out for heat illness. This clinched the tie for the U.S.
“I just think at 4-2 I had 15-40 and I was playing well.” Petkovic said. “I think she served really well in the decisive moments there. She had four first serves and then I played a bad game at 4-3.
“I think in tennis it can change so quickly.
“Then she was just serving really well in the third set. I never really got any rhythm to begin with. It was difficult for me to find my way or grind my way back into the match then in the third set.”
“It’s really a team effort,” Vandeweghe said of the win. “It’s a home tie for a reason. I think that was a big motivating factor for me to come out there and represent my country. I don’t really need much of a reason more to give everything I have out there on the court.
“That was kind of it.”
She gave credit to the Maui crowd – “ It’s no secret I was feeling like crap out there. I definitely needed a big pick-me-up. I definitely feed off the crowd and my teammates. This is one of the few times we do have teammates.
“I think that is definitely what pushed me through the hump for sure.”
Singles match D was skipped and in the doubles rubber, the Germany team had to retire, down 1-4 when Laura Siegemund injured her elbow.
The U.S. will host the Czech Republic the weekend of April 22-23 at a place to be announced.
U.S. Captain Kathy Rinaldi, making her debut as captain this weekend, spoke about the next tie: “Obviously Czech Republic is a very strong, tough team. They have many, many great players. One of our players knows one well.
“So, you know, yes. We’re going to enjoy this one. We’re going to look forward to playing them at home and have the home court advantage.
“Again, we’ll put together a strong team. I believe in all our American players. They’re doing great. They started off 2017 extremely strong.
“Yeah, we’re going to go for it.”
FINAL RESULTS
Saturday, 11:00 a.m. HST
Singles A:
Alison Riske (USA) def. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 7-6(10), 6-2
Sunday, 10:00 a.m. HST
Singles B:
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) def. Julia Goerges (GER) 6-3, 3-1, ret.
Singles C:
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) def. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
Singles D:
Alison Riske (USA) vs. Julia Goerges (GER) not played
Doubles:
Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Shelby Rogers (USA) def.
Laura Siegemund/Carina Witthoeft (GER) 4-1, ret.
WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND RESULTS
United States def. Germany, 4-0
Czech Republic def. Spain, 3-2
Belarus def. Netherlands, 4-1
Switzerland def. France, 4-1