Fed Cup

Czech Republic win opening Fed Cup singles

Kvitova defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (2), 6-3 before Safarova edged Sam Stosur 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4). ...  

Fed Cup drops 4th singles after 3-0 lead

Juan Margets, executive vice president of the ITF, said in a statement that the fourth singles in a Fed Cup tie will be scrapped if a team has an unassailable 3-0 lead. ...  

Fed Cup revises rules for dead matches

Under the ITF's revised dead rubber policy, the doubles will be brought forward and played instead of the fourth singles. ...  

India thrashed 0-3 by Kazakhstan in Fed Cup

Competing against some top players in the world, Indian team was routed 0-3 by hosts Kazakhstan in their Fed Cup opener. ...  

Stephens in, Williams sisters out of Fed Cup team

Sloane Stephens will lead the US Fed Cup team that is without the Williams sisters for the World Group first-round match against Italy on Feb. 9-10. ...  

Kvitova to lead Czechs at start of Fed Cup defence

Czech captain Petr Pala will stick with the same squad that lifted the crown for a second straight year in November. ...  

Sania pulls out of Fed Cup due to hip strain

The exact status of her injury will come after some tests on Monday in Hyderabad. ...  

Sania to spearhead Indian challenge in Fed Cup

Sania will lead the four-member Indian side in the upcoming Asia/Oceania Group I tie of the Fed Cup tennis tournament. ...  

Czech retain Fed Cup title with 3-1 win over Serbia

Prague: The Czech Republic retained the Fed Cup on Sunday when Lucie Safarova thrashed former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-1 in the second reverse singles for an unassailable 3-1 lead in the final. Safarova sealed the matched in the best-of-five series with a forehand winner on her second match point before an ecstatic sell-out home crowd on a hard court in the O2 Arena. The Czechs are...  

Czech Republic lead Serbia 2-0 in Fed Cup final

Prague: The Czech Republic is one win away from retaining the Fed Cup after Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova won the opening singles in straight sets against first-time finalist Serbia on Saturday. Safarova gave the Czechs a solid start on the indoor hard-court at the O2 Arena by defeating Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3 and Kvitova stopped Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-1. The eighth-ranked Kvitova, who led the Czechs to victory over...  

Czech lead Serbia 1-0 in Fed Cup final

Prague: Lucie Safarova gave defending champion Czech Republic a flying start in the Fed Cup final against Serbia by beating Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday for a 1-0 lead. Safarova converted her first match point with a forehand winner to seal the victory on an indoor hard court at the O2 Arena. "After I lost both matches in the final last year, I desperately wanted to win," said Safarova,...  

Fed Cup: Lucie Safarova to open final against Ana Ivanovic

Prague: Lucie Safarova will open the Fed Cup final for the defending champion Czech Republic against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The 17th -ranked Safarova is 3-2 against the 12th-ranked Ivanovic, who is former No. 1. "It would be great to start with a lead," Safarova said at the draw ceremony at Prague City Hall. "That's what I'm going to try and I'm looking forward to." Eighth-ranked Petra Kvitova, who led...  

Kvitova aiming to end dismal season on a high

Prague: Petra Kvitova regards this weekend's Fed Cup final as her last chance to salvage a year which has been a big comedown after her stellar 2011. Kvitova led the Czech Republic last year to its first Fed Cup title in 23 years, and this weekend she will help defend that crown at home against Serbia. Despite withdrawing midway through last week's elite WTA Championships with bronchitis, she said on...  

Kvitova to lead Czechs in Fed Cup defence

Prague: Petra Kvitova, who has withdrawn from the WTA championships in Istanbul because of a viral illness, will lead the Czech Republic in their Fed Cup title defence against Serbia next month in Prague. The Czechs will seek to become the third consecutive nation to retain the title after Italy in 2009-10 and Russia in 2007-2008. World number six Kvitova helped her country defeat Italy in the semi-finals. "She is...  

Salgaocar, Pune FC win in Fed Cup football

Jamshedpur: Qualifiers Mohammedan Sporting stunned Durand Cup winners Air India in Siliguri, while defending champions Salgaocar and Pune FC kick-started their respective campaigns on winning notes in Jamshedpur in the Federation Cup football tournament here on Thursday. In Group B league matches in Siliguri, a second-half strike by Mohammad Mukhtar (54th) was enough to give Mohammedan Sporting a winning start, while star-studded Mohun Bagan played out a goal-less draw with...  

Serena in, Venus out of US Fed Cup team

New York: Serena Williams is on the US Fed Cup roster for matches against Ukraine on April 21-22, but her sister Venus is not. "She just played Miami and Charleston, so she's trying to gauge now her recovery, how much she can play," US Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez said on Wednesday about Venus. "She's, I believe, planning on playing a couple of tournaments now before the French Open."...  

Sanchez Vicario blames parents for $60m loss

Madrid: Tennis great Arantxa Sanchez Vicario has blamed her parents for losing an estimated 45 million ($60 million) in career earnings through mismanagement. The 40-year-old Sanchez Vicario let loose against her whole family in a book of memoirs published on Tuesday. She says she does not speak to her parents or her three siblings. She says her parents were obsessed with her succeeding in a career which netted four Grand...  

Japan advance to play-offs at Fed Cup

Kobe, Japan: Ayumi Morita beat Slovenia's Polona Hercog 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday as Japan advanced to the Fed Cup World Group play-offs. Morita recovered from a sluggish start in the first set to give Japan an insurmountable 3-0 lead after Sunday's first reverse singles match of the World Group II tie. Hercog experienced pain in her neck during the second set tie-break and won only six points in...  

Serbia set up Fed Cup semis clash with Russia

Charleroi, Serbia: Serbia relied on their second-string players to come from behind Sunday to beat Belgium 3-2 and reach the semifinals of the Fed Cup. They will now play Russia. Facing elimination, Bojana Jovanovski pulled Serbia back in the match by beating Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-4 to level the score at 2-2. Jovanovski then lined up with Aleksandra Krunic to beat Yanina Wickmayer and Alison Van Uytvanck in the deciding...  

Czechs beat Germany 4-1 in Fed Cup

Stuttgart: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova rallied to beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki and send defending champion Czech Republic into the semi-finals of the Fed Cup after giving her country an insurmountable lead in the first round on Sunday. Angelique Kerber later beat Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-4 to salvage some pride for the hosts with the 24-year-old German's first Fed Cup win. But Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova reaffirmed Czech dominance...