US lead Germany 1-0 in Fed Cup
los angeles — Alison Riske beat Andrea Petkovic to put the United States up 1-0 on Saturday in a Fed Cup World Group tie that got off to an awkward start thanks to a gaffe involving the German national anthem.
“The USTA extends a sincere apology to the German Fed Cup team & fans 4 the outdated National Anthem,” the US Tennis Association said in a tweet. “This mistake will not occur again.”
The apology came after a performance of a stanza of the anthem that dates back to World War II and which has been officially eliminated as part of the anthem since the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification in 1990.
“@usta we hope so...” the German tennis federation tweeted, prompting the USTA to respond, “@DTB Tennis We can assure that it won’t. Again, our sincere apologies.”
It was the start of what turned out to be a tough day for Germany.
The USTA extends a sincere apology to the German Fed Cup team & fans 4 the outdated National Anthem US Tennis Association
Riske overcame her nerves to fashion a 7-6 (12/10), 6-2 victory over the experienced Petkovic, who came into the tie with 12 Fed Cup singles titles on her resume.
After roaring to a 5-0 lead in the second set, Riske fought through a tense spell to seal the victory and give a leg up to surprise Australian Open semi-finalist CoCo Vandeweghe, who was to take on Julia Goerges in the second singles.
Vandeweghe took the first set from Goerges 6-3 and was up 3-1 in the second when Goerges slipped on a rain-slicked baseline, hurting her knee. A medical timeout coincided with a rain delay, and the match never resumed. The were to resume on Sunday, meaning both will be in singles action twice on the final day of the best-of-five match tie — with Vandeweghe also slated for doubles.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky overcame being stung by a wasp to beat French rival Alize Cornet in the Fed Cup as three of the four World Group ties ended all-square on Saturday.
The Swiss were 1-1 against France in Geneva while defending champions the Czech Republic also split the opening rubbers with Spain in Ostrava as did top-flight debutants Belarus against the Netherlands in Minsk.
The United States were closing in on a 2-0 lead over Germany when rain halted action in Hawaii.
Bacsinszky downed Cornet 7-5, 6-4 but only after needing treatment when she was stung on her arm by a wasp at 3-3 in the first set of the clash at Geneva’s Palexpo arena. —