Belinda Bencic played very solidly to knock out Andrea Petkovic in straight sets while Angelique Kerber kept her winning streak alive, crushing Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets too. At the end of the first day, Germany and Switzerland are tied at 1-1.
Bencic Too Solid for Petkovic
Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic opened the festivities on Saturday as they stepped on the court to face each other for the very first time. Petkovic was off to a good start. She served well, played well and hit some tremendous winners to break her opponent in her first service game. But Bencic reacted straight away, got her act together and played better which allowed her to break back and level up the match at 2-2. From the 5th game, it was all about Bencic. She dictated the game from A to Z and was also helped by the too high number of unforced errors of Petkovic. She broke again at 2-2 and turned the knife in the wound one last time at 5-3 to break the German and to win the first set 6-3.
In the second set, Bencic kept going and more importantly kept serving well. Both players held their serves until 4-4 when the Swiss broke at a crucial time. She was not worried once on her serve in the second set and did not have to face any break point. She won the match on Petkovic's 41th unforced error and snatched her very first Fed Cup win of the year in style, defeating the German 6-3, 6-4. As a result, she brought the first point to her country and confirmed her statute of leader of Switzerland.
Kerber Too Strong for Bacsinszky
A few minutes later, Kerber and Bacsinszky walked on the court to face each other for the second time in their career. Even though Bacsinszky had won their only meeting back in 2008, she was not the favorite of the match as the German was on an eight-match winning streak (excluding her withdrawal in Sydney) after her Australian Open coronation. In the first set, Kerber did not let her opponent have a chance, making her run from right to left and waiting for the error. It worked out pretty well as she broke straight from the second game. Bacsinszky was unable to find solutions and conceded one more break further in the match. At 5-0, the Swiss came back from two set points down to win her first game of the match and consequently avoided the bagel. However, the German made no mistake on her serve and snatched the first set 6-1.
The second set started like a roller coaster. The German broke the serve of her opponent in the opening game but did not consolidate it. She even had to save break points at 1-2 down but got her act together and held her serve. Bacsinszky overall played better in the second set and defended insanely well, pushing Kerber to make mistakes in long rallies. However, the new world number two stayed composed and managed to get one more break at 2-2 and kept it until the end. Even though it was not a great match from the German, it was enough to pull out a win and hence to bring a first point to Germany.
A Look at Sunday’s Schedule
On Sunday, the three last rubbers will be played in Leipzig. If there is no nomination change, Angelique Kerber will face Swiss number one Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic will have to battle out with Timea Bacsinszky. If the score appears to be 2-2 at the end of the two singles rubbers, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Martina Hingis will step on the court with their partner to try to give the deciding point to their country.