Czechs beat Russians in Fed Cup final, Kvitova successfully closes breakthrough season

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Wilson Blade 9

The 2011 Fed Cup final between Russia, four-time titlist in the last seven years, and the Czech Republic was decided by a doubles clash between Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke and Russians Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina with the Czech team winning 6-4 6-2 to secure a 3-2 lead and defeat Russia on home soil, which hadn’t happened to Russia since 2003.

The two victories in singles for Czechs were both secured by Wimbledon champion and new world No.2 Petra Kvitova, who stayed unbeaten in six Fed Cup matches this year, and in the final she scored her 12th consecutive match win, with recent titles in Linz and Istanbul.

Kvitova first defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-2 and then Svetlana Kuznetsova the next day. The Sunday’s match with Kuznetsova was their first career meeting, and Kvitova started with too many mistakes to lose the first set. The second set she won by winning five consecutive games, but in the third set she was again down, 0-3. However, Kvitova started playing much better and six straight game wins handed her a 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory.

The two Russian victories were Svetlana Kuznetsova’s defeat of Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-3 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s 6-2 6-4 win over the same player.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks, Marija, for this quick post.

    In plus, Kvitova completed 21 indoor wins in a row, undefeated in 2011. Including that memorable one over Kim Clijsters to win Paris Indoors in February.

  2. Petr, you’re welcome 😉 And thank you for adding more relevant information.

    Brenda, there’s reason to what you’re saying. Petra’s season had many highlights. Wozniacki’s was also special, but in a different way.

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