Fed Cup 2009 - Euro/Africa Zone Group 1

Peter too · Tennis legend

RE: Fed Cup 2009 - Euro/Africa Zone Group 1

wolf · Tennis legend

Lovely. Mel has replaced Anne in the doubles; it might be a dead rubber but it could become important if we lose (heaven forbid) one of our next two matches as it will go to rubbers won if teams are tied at the top of the group.

DUSTY DICK · Club Coach

Wow. Superb result for Anne. The team are certainly off to a flyer. They must have a great chance of promotion this time.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Great win for Anne, and to be honest, I'd be disappointed if we didn't come top of the group now - certaintly there's no excuse really as Anne should be a guarenteed rubber in each match and you'd fancy Baltacha/South to win their singles match as well

DavidC · Tennis legend

Excellent result, and winning both singles was the ideal scenario to allow Mel the opportunity to be involved on the opening day.

wolf · Tennis legend

And the icing on the cake!

Sarah Borwell & Mel South bt Agnes Szavay & Katalin Marosi 6-4, 6-3

Netherlands won as well so the battle of the two unbeaten teams tomorrow at 8am GMT.

Josh · Challenger level

What happens if we come top of the group?? Do we go into the World Group or is it a different format for the Fed Cup?

djlovesyou · Strong Club Player

The four group winners play off at the end of the week and the two winners go to the World Group 2 playoff match in April.

PockyTastic · Futures level

"Elena Baltacha beat Michelle Gerards 6-2 6-4

Elena Baltacha once again got Britain off to a great start with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Michelle Gerards.

The Dutch player got the first break of serve in the match in the third game but Baltacha broke back immediately and two further breaks on the Gerards serve allowed Baltacha to claim the early advantage.

With both players struggling to hold serve in the second set there were five successive breaks of serve with the final break of serve giving Baltacha her second win of the week."

From the LTA.

wolf · Tennis legend

Anne leads Arantxa Rus 5-3.

-- Edited by wolf at 10:30, 2009-02-05

Peter too · Tennis legend

Anne won 6-4 6-4

Drew · Feb 5, 2009

GB 2-0 v Holland...more to come.

Elena Baltacha defeated Michelle Gerards 6-2 6-4

Elena Baltacha once again got Britain off to a great start with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Michelle Gerards.

The Dutch player got the first break of serve in the match in the third game but Baltacha broke back immediately and two further breaks on the Gerards serve allowed Baltacha to claim the early advantage.

With both players struggling to hold serve in the second set there were five successive breaks of serve with the final break of serve giving Baltacha her second win of the week.

Anne Keothavong defeated Arantxa Rus 6-4 6-4

Anne Keothavong gave Great Britain a 2-0 lead against Netherlands going into the final rubber on day 2, defeating Arantxa Rus 6-4 6-4.

Keothavong got the decisive break in fifth game of the first set and held off the talented young left hander to win the opening set.

The second set was a closer affair with Keothavong breaking first only for Rus to break back immediately. Keothavong put tremendous pressure on the Dutch players serve at 4-4 and broke giving her the opportunity to serve for the match. A confident service game gave the British No.1 her second victory of the week.

From LTA

-- Edited by Drew at 13:11, 2009-02-05

Peter too · Tennis legend

Keothavong & Borwell beat Wong & Thyssen 6-4 6-0

MAC · Junior player

What a great way to step up from last year - 6-0 and counting against teams they were battling against last year. Let's see if they can complete the whitewash against Luxembourg tomorrow. It's great to have such good news coming from the top of the women's game because the men are letting the side down at the moment.

wolf · Tennis legend

Hungary beat Luxembourg 2-1 which means Great Britain are already guaranteed to top Pool A.

Hope they play Sarah and Mel in singles and doubles tomorrow.