US, CZECH IN SEMIS
France, Germany too sail; Serena loses return match
Asheville (North Carolina, USA), Feb. 12: The Czech Republic beat Switzerland 3-1 to advance to their 10th straight Fed Cup semifinals on Sunday, and Serena Williams played her first competitive match in more than a year as defending champion United States defeated the Netherlands 3-1.
The Czechs, Fed Cup champions in five of the last seven years, travel to Germany, who made their first semifinals since 2015 after beating 2017 finalists Belarus 3-2 in Minsk. The U.S. go to France, who defeated Belgium 3-2.
Dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-4 in the first reverse singles to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the firstround match in Prague.
Serena Williams lined up alongside her sister Venus Williams in a doubles match but the sisters lost 2-6, 3-6 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands.
The U.S. already had clinched victory thanks to a pair of singles victories.
But this event was most notable for the return of Serena Williams, five months after giving birth. She hadn’t played competitive tennis since winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant for her 23rd career Grand Slam singles title, one off Margaret Court’s record.
Serena’s daughter, Alexis Olympia, was wearing a headband with red and white stripes plus a blue coat Sunday as her father, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, held her just behind the players’ bench. —AP