Shame on you, America
Germany take the US to task for anthem gaffe
PAR IS: Defending champions Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus and the United States reached the Fed Cup semi-finals but the tournament suffered an embarrassing gaffe over the German national anthem and accusations of gamesmanship.
As 17-time champions the US were downing Germany 3-0 to book a home last-four date against the Czechs, their efforts were overshadowed by a controversial blunder over the German anthem played just before action got underway in Hawaii on Sunday.
German star Andrea Petkovic said she had “never felt so disrespected” after an American soloist sang an old version of the 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 embarrassment 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 but a fuming Petkovic went on to lose to Alison Riske 7-6 (12-10), 6-2 to put the US 1-0 up on Saturday.
“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.
“We’re in 2017 – something like this should not happen in America. It is embarrassing and smacks of ignorance.”
Germany team skipper Barbara Rittner described it as “a real scandal and inexcusable”.
On Sunday, the organisers managed to play the correct version of the anthem. However, it didn’t help Germany who slipped 2-0 down when Goerges retired injured as she trailed CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, 3-1.
Vandeweghe then sealed a 3-0 victory – and a first semi-final in seven years – with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Petkovic after running away with the last 10 games.
In Ostrava, Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova led defending champions the Czech Republic into the semi-finals for a ninth successive season with victory against Spain.
Pliskova overcame seventh- ranked French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2. Then Strycova, ranked 17th, beat
I have never felt so disrespected in my life, it was an absolute effrontery and insolence, of the very worst kind. We’re in 2017 – something like this should not happen in America. It is embarrassing and smacks of ignorance. Andrea Petkovic
70th-ranked Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 6-4 in almost two hours.
Seeking a fourth straight Fed Cup title, and sixth from the last seven editions, the 10-time champions Czechs will travel to the US for the semi-finals on April 22-23.
Switzerland knocked out last year’s runners-up France after Timea Bacsinszky downed Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-5 in a three-hour-and-20-minute thriller before Belinda Bencic eased past Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-4.
However, Bacsinszky was accused of gamesmanship by a frustrated Mladenovic.
On Saturday, world No. 16 Bacsinszky left the court in Geneva for treatment to a wasp sting on her elbow while, on Sunday, she again sought medical help for a knee injury when a break point down in the sixth game of the deciding set.
When she returned, she took a 21-shot rally and claimed eight of the next nine points to stretch to a 5-2 lead.
“She did a kangaroo jump and ran better than before,” fumed Mladenovic.
“There was the wasp attack and a medical timeout at 5-4 against Alize (Cornet, in the second set on Saturday) to regain her spirits.
“That’s a lot in two days. There are rules, she uses them to the maximum, it’s her way of fighting, she’s known for it. I do not have values like this.”
In April’s semi-finals, Switzerland will travel to World Group debutants Belarus who defeated Holland 4-1 in Minsk.
Aryna Sabalenka, 18, ranked 142 in the world, downed Michaella Krajicek 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 for the crucial point after Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the world no. 128, defeated 24th-ranked Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-4 ending the Dutchwoman’s eight-match winning streak in the Fed Cup. — AFP