Petra Kvitova to lead Czech Republic in Fed Cup final

By Magdalena Stanislav

Petra Kvitova will have to recover early to lead Czechs in Fed Cup final

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (TheSportsNEXT) October 24, 2012: Despite of a viral illness, the world number six tennis player in WTA Rankings, Petra Kvitova has been chosen to lead Czech Republic in the Fed Cup final against Serbia.

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The announcement has come on the day when Petra Kvitova pulled out of WTA Championships in Istanbul citing viral illness and flew back home in a bid to get ready for the future assignments.

The Czech Republic squad for the Fed Cup final against a strong-looking Serbian team was named Wednesday by Captain Petr Pala and he decided to keep the same squad that defeated even-stronger Italy 4-1 in the semi-finals.

Petra Kvitova has not been in greatest of form off late and her notable victories came only last season when she won the Wimbledon and WTA Championships title but this year it’s been a topsy-turvy ride for the Czech tennis queen who has now slipped to sixth in the WTA Rankings.

Her latest performance was a horrific defeat to Agnieszka Radwanska last night when she committed whopping 41 unforced errors before bowing out by 6-3 6-2 as the viral illness never allowed her to concentrate on her game.

Her team’s spokesman Karel Tejkal told reporters here today that Petra Kvitova was flying home for further treatment and her teammates were expecting her to recover in time for the Fed Cup finals.

The Fed Cup 2012 best-of-five final will be played on November 3 and 4 on an indoor hard-court at Prague's O2 Arena.

Petra Kvitova has been joined by 17^th ranked Lucie Safarova as the second singles player in the squad while the doubles pair will be Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, who ended runners-up at this year’s US Open and London Olympics.

This would be the first time that Czech Republic and Serbia will meet in the Fed Cup. Thea last time Czech Republic made it into the Fed Cup finals was last year where they defeated Russia by 3-2 in Moscow. The defending champions have won the Fed Cup title only once since the country split in 1993. The Czechs won the Fed Cup title five more times when it was known as Czechoslovakia.

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Sofia Arvidsson kicks Marion Bartoli out of Kremlin Cup

By Alexia Krause

Sofia Arvidsson puts Mario Bartoli on wait for WTA Championships

MOSCOW, Russia (TheSportsNEXT) October 18, 2012: Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden stunned Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets by 6-3 6-0 on Wednesday to storm her way into quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The loss was a huge blow for world number 10 Marion Bartoli who had to win this match to stay at a better position as compared to Samantha Stosur of Australia and now will stay as the second alternate at the season-ending WTA Championships starting next week in Istanbul.

Sofia Arvidsson looked in good shape right from the start and broke her French opponent thrice before dropping service a couple of times. She excelled in the second set and gave Bartoli no chance of making a comeback into the match.

The Frenchwoman didn’t help her chances either as she had six double-faults in the second set alone.

Sofia Arvidsson is bidding to win her second title of the current season after winning title in Memphis earlier this year.

Sofia will face either seventh seeded Maria Kirilenko or Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Talking to reporters after her impressive victory, Sofia Arvidsson said, “I am very happy to win this match to reach the quarterfinals. Marion is a great competitor, a top-10 player, and I knew I would have to be at my best. My strategy was to focus on the way I wanted to play and move her around the court”.

On the other hand, Marion Bartoli showed her disappointment on losing the big match for her chances of qualification in the season ending WTA Championships. She told media persons, “It would have been better for me to come to Istanbul as the first substitute, but it's always very rewarding for me to get a chance to go there. Today my body just refused to execute what my mind was telling it to do. The surface here is very slow and it didn't fit my play well”.

In the other matches played at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday, Klara Zakopalova advanced into the last eight by getting the better of eighth-seeded Lucie Safarova by 6-4 6-4 in all-Czech match.

Local favorites Valeria Solovieva defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4 6-2 to cruise into second round, while Maria Kirilekno uprooted fellow Russian Elena Vesnina by 7-5 6-1 in her first round match.

In the men's second-round action on Wednesday, eighth-seeded Tatsuma Ito of Japan won a battle of nerves against Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk with final score of 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3. In another match, Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic came from behind to topple fifth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

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Maria Sharapova labors into Pan Pacific Open 3rd round

By Liu Shewin

TOKYO, Japan (TheSportsNEXT) September 25, 2012: World number two woman tennis player Maria Sharapova of Russia was made to work hard for victory in her second round match of the Pan Pacific Open as British qualifier Heather Watson stretched the match to three sets in Tokyo on Tuesday.

 

After losing the first set by 6-7, former world number one player stormed her way back to form and won the next two sets by 6-3 6-4 to reach last 16 round of the tournament.

Talking to reporters after winning the match, Maria Sharapova said, ''I was facing someone who had gone through (qualifying) and already played so I was definitely the rustier of the two. Overall, it was just one of those matches where you are glad to be through”.

Maria Sharapova is bidding for her third Tokyo title here after winning the Pan Pacific Open crown in 2005 and 2009.

The next opponent for Maria Sharapova is Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic who got a walk over after her opponent Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic was unable to play because of a left wrist injury.

When asked about Safarova, Maria Sharapova said, “She's a tough player. She had a break today with the walkover while I played three hours but hopefully that won't be a factor”.

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