Following a dramatic win in the deciding doubles match, the U.S. Fed Cup team has clinched a berth in the 2017 Fed Cup final.
The U.S. defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 when Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe defeated Czechs Kristyna Pliskova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-3 to break a 2-2 match tie and send the U.S. into the final for the first time in seven years.
Vandeweghe was a force throughout the weekend, winning won both her singles against Czech teen Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-4, and Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-0. But the Czechs kept the tie even throughout the weekend as Siniakova defeated American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-3, and Vondrousova won her second singles over American Lauren Davis 6-2, 7-5 to force the deciding doubles.
“It’s amazing,” Mattek-Sands said. “I mean, I think the best way to describe it is our reaction after the match. November is still kind of far away, so we have a lot of tennis kind of in between then, but we’re going to celebrate a little bit today and enjoy the win.”
The U.S. will next travel to face Belarus in the Fed Cup final on Nov. 11-12, 2017. Following a defeat of Switzerland in the semifinals, Belarus advanced to its first-ever Fed Cup final, and will likely be able to call on former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Attempting to win a first Fed Cup title in 17 years, the U.S. team will be without the services of current world No. 1 Serena Williams, who is expecting her first child later this year.
U.S. Captain Kathy Rinaldi said the young U.S. squad continues to grow in confidence.
“Obviously we’re building off what [former U.S. captain] Mary Joe [Fernandez] started,” the first-year U.S. captain Rinaldi said. “It’s been an unbelievable couple of ties for me. Coco said it well: ‘These girls are amazing.’ It’s been a lot of fun it’s super special. It’s something that I’ll never forget. Looking forward to the final.”
With Sunday’s doubles win, Vandeweghe, the top-ranked U.S. player at the tie, became the first American in more than two decades, and just the third American woman overall, to win three live points in the same tie. Vandeweghe, who has now won nine consecutive Fed Cup matches between singles and doubles play, joins Lindsay Davenport — who accomplished the feat in the World Group semifinals in 1995 — and her former captain Fernandez, who won two singles matches and a decisive doubles match against Austria in the 1996 World Group quarterfinal.
“It was an amazing day as a team,” Vandeweghe said. “It shows that every point counts in this event, and we all came together when it mattered most. That’s what you expect out of a Fed Cup tie.”
The U.S. Fed Cup team improved to a perfect 5-0 in ties held in Florida.
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