Fed Cup: Germany upsets Belarus 3-2 in Minsk to make semi finals
Tatjana Maria won two points in her first Fed Cup tie in seven years and led Germany past 2017 finalist Belarus and into the semifinals yesterday.
The Germans, who last appeared in the semifinals in 2015, will host the Czech Republic in April. They last met the Czechs in the 2014 final, losing it 3-1.
Germany met Belarus for the first time without its three leading singles players. But Maria earned her first singles win since 2007 when she won the first reverse singles against Vera Lapko 6-4, 5-7, 6-0. The 19-year-old Lapko made her Fed Cup debut in place of team No. 1 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who lost her singles on Saturday.
Aryna Sabalenka then tied the match 2-2 by beating German newcomer Antonia Lottner 6-3, 57, 6-2. But straight after that twohour match, Sabalenka returned for the deciding doubles without regular partner Sasnovich.
Sabalenka combined with Lidziya Marozava for the first time, and they faced Maria and Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who hadn't played Fed Cup doubles since 2011 but had a 3-2 record.
The Belarusians committed 69 unforced errors as the Germans edged them 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4.
US advances in Fed Cup; Serena Williams loses in doubles
Serena Williams had said her return to tennis this weekend at the Fed Cup would represent the "start of a long process." Her first match in over a year showed how far she has to go.
In Williams' first competition since giving birth five months ago, she and her sister Venus lost 6-2, 6-3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in a Fed Cup doubles match Sunday.
The U.S. already had clinched a victory in the best-of-five event thanks to a pair of singles victories by Venus Williams, so this doubles loss merely narrowed the final score to 3-1. The U.S. advanced to a World Cup semifinal April 21-22 at France, which defeated Belgium 3-2 this weekend.
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.
Her doubles match revealed the effects of her long time away from the game.
Earlier Sunday, Venus Williams defeated Richel Hogenkamp 7-5, 6-1 to give the U.S. a decisive 3-0 lead in its best-of-five matchup.
Sunday's scheduled singles match between CoCo Vandeweghe and Arantxa Rus was scrapped because the outcome of this event already has been decided.
After Venus Williams' singles victory Sunday, U.S. captain Kathy Rinaldi said the Williams sisters would be playing doubles together. The schedule originally called for Serena Williams to play alongside Lauren Davis.
Before the doubles match started, the U.S. team celebrated its triumph over the Netherlands. Davis carried an American flag while joining the Williams sisters and Vandeweghe on a victory lap around the court.
The U.S. had taken a 2-0 lead Saturday when Venus Williams defeated Rus 6-4, 6-1 and Vandeweghe rallied from a set and a break down to beat Hogenkamp 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Hogenkamp had a break-point opportunity that would have put her ahead 6-5 in the first set before Williams won the final seven points of the set. Williams took the last five games of the match to wrap up the victory.
France wins doubles to beat Belgium 3-2 in Fed Cup
Two-time champion France advanced to the Fed Cup semifinals after beating Belgium 3-2 on Sunday, with Amandine Hesse and Kristina Mladenovic winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 against Elise Mertens and Kirsten Flipkens in the deciding doubles.
Mladenovic double faulted on her first match point at 40-15 but delivered a strong serve on the next point. It proved enough, speaking wild celebrations from captain Yannick Noah and French staff members at the indoor court in western France.
In the absence of seventhranked Caroline Garcia, who is declining to play for France as she focuses on her singles career, the 13th-ranked Mladenovic led the way by winning both her singles in the World Group firstround match.
France will play either the United States or the Netherlands in April. France won the competition in 1997 and 2003 but has lost three times in the final since then, most recently in 2016.
Earlier, Alison Van Uytvanck swept aside Pauline Parmentier 6-1, 6-3 to draw Belgium level with France at 2-2.
Parmentier saved a match point and then forged a break point as Van Uytvanck appeared nervous. Van Uytvanck, who replaced Kirsten Flipkens for the second reverse singles, saved the break point and got another match point when Parmentier sent a two-handed backhand wide. The Belgian took it with a strong serve which Parmentier returned wide.
Pouille beats Gasquet again to win Open Sud de France
Second-seeded Lucas Pouille of France continued his hold over Richard Gasquet, beating him 76 (2), 6-4 Sunday to win the Open Sud de France for his fifth career ATP title.
It was Pouille's fourth straight win against Gasquet, who was playing his sixth straight final at the tournament. Gasquet won it in 2013, '15 and '16 but missed out on a 15th career title.
Pouille prevented his fifthseeded countryman from dictating rallies and forced six chances on Gasquet's serve, breaking him once. He did not face a single break point on his own serve and hit 10 aces in a comprehensive performance.