Swedes whitewash poor Thais

Hosts Sweden whitewashed erratic Thailand 4-0 in the Fed Cup World Group II tennis play-offs tie in Lidkoping on Sunday.

The cheers of a group of 50 Thai supporters in the Swedish city went in vain as Thai No 1 Luksika Kumkhum lost to world No 88 Johanna Larsson 6-4 6-2, propelling Sweden, who were already leading 2-0 overnight after the singles, to victory. 

With the 3-0 scoreline in the favour of the hosts, the two sides decided not to play the second singles match of the day and instead sent their doubles pairs onto the court, where Rebecca Peterson and Hilda Melander trounced Tamarine Tanasgarn and Varatchaya Wongteanchai 6-4 6-2.

The consequence of the defeat meant Thailand would return to the Zone Asia/Oceania Qualifying Group I next year with Sweden remaining in the elite group.

“I gave everything I could, but Larsson really came with a good game plan. I was under great pressure and couldn’t cope with it. But this is a great experience which will benefit me on the professional tour,” said Luksika, who was impressed by the vocal support of her compatriots, most of whom were the Thai wives of Swedish men.

“They have been very supportive and even cooked delicious food for us. There are a lot of Thais in this city,” said Luksika, who was bothered by a shoulder injury.

Tamarine said Thailand faced a tougher team, which did its homework prior to the tie.

“They have prepared very well. We fought hard in every rubber and each of us had a strong determination to win. But they were a better team. However, we came here as the winners from Asia, which itself is quite a good achievement. Each of us just has to work on our weaknesses and hope to perform better next time,” said Tammy, who has enormous experience playing in the Fed Cup.

Thai captain Priyakarn Salivorraroj pointed out that inconsistency was the major problem that contributed to her team’s defeat.

“We made way too many errors compared to the Swedes, who played very solid tennis. It’s the first World Group stage for most of the girls so they tried to do too much, but it just didn’t happen. We need to be more patient and come up with a better preparation,” said the skipper, a former Fed Cup player, who was known as Napaporn Tongsalee. The team is due to return home tomorrow. 

 

Germany, Czech in final

Germany reached their first Fed Cup final since 1992 on Sunday – where they will face the Czech Republic, who will be playing in a third title match in four years.

Germany completed a 3-1 victory over Australia in Brisbane while the Czechs, the 2011 and 2012 winners, defeated defending champions Italy 4-0 in Ostrava.

The Czech Republic will host the final of the women’s international tennis competition on November 8-9.

Angelique Kerber put Germany into their first final in 22 years – the last time being when Steffi Graf starred in the win over Spain – with a fighting victory over Samantha Stosur.

World No 7 Kerber fought back from dropping the opening set to beat former US Open champion Stosur 4-6 6-0 6-4 in two hours, 14 minutes to give Germany an unassailable 3-0 lead.

The Australian pair of Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty prevented a wipe-out when they claimed the “dead” doubles rubber 6-2 6-7 (5/7) 10-2 over Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld. 

 

Pyjama party

Germany celebrated their victory by flying back to Europe in their pyjamas.

“We’ll be flying home in pyjamas, that was the deal,” Andrea Petkovic said, after the team had previously said they would don nightwear that had been gifted from the Australian team for the 24-hour flight home via Dubai, if they won.

In Ostrava, Petra Kvitova, the world number six and a former Wimbledon champion, saw off 20th-ranked Roberta Vinci 6-3 7-5 in an hour-and-a-half to hand the Czechs an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Klara Koukalova and Andrea Hlavackova then earned the fourth point for the hosts after beating Camila Giorgi and Karin Knapp 6-2 5-7 11-9 in the dead doubles rubber.