Wednesday 27 / November / 2024
Moscow: The Netherlands' dream Fed Cup run continued as Kiki Bertens crushed Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-4 in Moscow on Sunday to send them into the semi-finals of the team competition for the first time since 1997.
In the last four the Dutch will face France, who completed a resounding victory over Italy, while holders the Czech Republic, who were taken to the wire by Romania, and Switzerland, who beat Germany, completed the lineup.
Bertens, the highest-ranked Netherlands player but still a lowly 106, took her Fed Cup singles record to an incredible 13-1 as she overwhelmed the twice grand slam champion to give the visiting side an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The tie finished 3-1 with Russia claiming the doubles in a dead rubber.
"This is unbelievable. I don't think anyone expected that we could win this tie, perhaps we even didn't," Bertens told the official Fed Cup website (www.fedcup.com).
World number 17 Kuznetsova, 30, clearly felt the effects of Saturday's gruelling defeat by Richel Hogenkamp - a four-hour epic that set a Fed Cup singles record - and was no match for the powerful Dutchwoman, who thumped Ekaterina Makarova in the opener.
Russia, last year's runners-up, were unable to call on world number six Maria Sharapova who was injured.
The Netherlands, under captain Paul Haarhuis, have now won eight consecutive Fed Cup ties despite currently having no player inside the world's top 100.
"The girls did unbelievably well. They inspire me, they surprise me and every time it is a great thrill to be a part of it," he said. "It is quite astonishing, it is the Moscow miracle."
Czechs tested
France, who will face the Netherlands for a place in the final in April, enjoyed a straightforward victory over Italy.
Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia won their respective singles rubbers against Sara Errani and Camila Giorgi on Sunday before the French pair dropped just one game in winning the doubles to round off a 4-1 success.
The champion Czechs faced a far more testing tie against Romania before reaching the last four with a 3-2 victory.
Romania had taken a 2-1 lead when Simona Halep won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to inflict a second defeat of the weekend on Petra Kvitova - the first time the Czech Republic's number one had lost two singles rubbers in a tie.
When Monica Niculescu took the second set of her match against Czech Karolina Pliskova, Romania were within touching distance of a shock victory in the tie.
Pliskova, however, rallied to eventually win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 before teaming up with Barbora Strycova to ease through the doubles 6-2, 6-3 against Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru to seal the Czechs' place in the semi-finals.
Switzerland, who will face the Czechs, won 3-2 against Germany with Belinda Bencic and veteran Martina Hingis winning the decisive doubles 6-3, 6-2 against Andrea Petkovic and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Bencic had put the Swiss 2-1 ahead by beating Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber 7-6(4), 6-3, but Annika Beck, making her Fed Cup singles debut, beat Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-4 to level.
Kerber said that tiredness had caught up with her after her exertions in Melbourne.
"Of course, I was a little bit tired, especially at the end of the first set, but I was trying to take all my energy from the crowd and my team," she said on the Fed Cup website.
"Belinda played very solid at the end and well done to her. Today I gave all I had left."
