Anthem gaffe leaves German players fuming

LOS ANGELES: Andrea Petkovic says she has ‘never felt so disrespected’ after a gaffe involving the German national anthem during their Fed Cup tie against the United States.

The Germans were upset and angry following a blunder at the opening ceremony to the World Group tie in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday. An American soloist sang an old version of the German anthem which leads off with a stanza considered overtly nationalist --- “Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles” --- a reference to German supremacy. Singing that version is a major ‘no-no’ in Germany, because of its strong links to the Nazi era, and only the third stanza of the old anthem is now in use. Organisers apologised for the gaffe but a fuming Petkovic went on to lose to Alison Riske 7-6 (12/10), 6-2 to put the USA 1-0 up in the first singles rubber.

“I have never felt so disrespected in my life, it was an absolute effrontery and insolence, of the very worst kind,” said the 29-year-old Petkovic adding that she and team-mate Julia Georges were in tears. “It is with some distance the worst thing which has happened to me in my life, especially at the Fed Cup. We’re in 2017 -- something like this should not happen in America. It is embarassing and smacks of ignorance. “Jule (Goerges) started to cry at once, I had tears in my eyes and was angry,” she added. “The bad thing is that this effects us, not the Americans.”

CZECHS MAKE SEMIS

OS TR AVA, CZECH REPUBLIC: Barbora Strycova sent defending champion Czech Republic to the semifinals of the Fed Cup with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Lara Arruabarrena of Spain in the second reverse singles match on Sunday. The 17th-ranked Strycova failed to serve it out at 5-2, wasting two match points before closing out the encounter with a backhand drop shot on her fifth match point.Her victory gave the Czech Republic an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Spain in the best-of-five first-round series. The final doubles match cannot overturn the Czech victory.

The Czechs who have won five of the last six Fed Cup titles will face the United States or Germany in the semis in April.

Earlier, third-ranked Karolina Pliskova eased past French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2 in the first reverse singles to put the Czechs 2-1 ahead.

BELARUS COMPLETE SURPRISE WIN

MINSK, BELARUS: Belarus Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Aryna Sabalenka stepped up Sunday to beat the Netherlands 4-1 in the Fed Cup quarterfinals.