Coming to this first day we were all expecting a tie between both teams at the end of the day, but it was not expected under this circumstances. The first match featured Simona Halep taking on Karolina Pliskova, the Romanian fought her way to win the first set in a tiebreak, but eventually, Pliskova was too strong winning the following two sets. In the second match of the day, Petra Kvitova would face Monica Niculescu to put the Czechs 2-0. However, Niculescu played her best tennis and beat the two-times Wimbledon champion in straight sets.

Pliskova too strong for Halep

On paper, Halep was the clear favorite for this match, but ruling out Pliskova was not an option. The young Czech has shown she has nerves of steel when facing top players like Halep and today was not the exception. In the early stages of the match, Halep got the early break to lead 2-1, only to lose her serve in the next game. The Czech had several break chances as Halep struggled to close out the set, hitting a backhand long to give Pliskova the break. Romania won the first set in a tiebreak after Pliskova hits a wide ball.

After losing the first set, Pliskova started to play more aggressive getting a break in the third game of the second set. The Czech struggled to hold her serve when she was up 4-3 and after a long ball, Halep broke to level up 4-4. A backhand unforced error on Halep’s serve handed the break to Pliskova who would now serve for the second set. The Czech had no problem serving out the set, holding her serve quite comfortably for the set 6-4.

Pliskova didn’t drop her level as she went to break Halep first to lead 3-2. After that break it was all for Karolina Pliskova, winning the next three games to win the first match of the day 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Photo: Robert Ghement
Photo: Robert Ghement

Niculescu stuns Petra Kvitova

The Czech Republic was leading 1-0, and now it was time for Petra Kvitova to extend the lead. The Czech came to the match as the favorite, but Monica Niculescu wouldn’t give up that easily. The Romanian was up a break and held her serve with an ace to lead 4-2 in the first set. The surprises continued in Romania as Niculescu was on her way to pull the second upset of the day after winning the first set against Kvitova 6-3 in under an hour.

The Romanian was playing on of her matches in front of her home crowd, making Kvitova hit several unforced errors. At 5-4, Kvitova couldn’t hold her serve facing two match points and eventually giving the match after a backhand unforced error. Monica Niculescu defeats Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and fifty-two minutes. It was not a good day for the best ranked Czech as she did 23 winners, but 46 unforced errors in the match. At the end of the first day, Romania and the Czech Republic are tied 1-1.

Photo: Robert Ghement
Photo: Robert Ghement

Sunday’s Schedule

It will be an interesting second day for this World Group Fed Cup tie, having the blockbuster match between Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova. Both players came up as the favorites in their first matches and both players lost her opening match. The second singles match of the day is between the winners of the first day, Monica Niculescu takes on Karolina Pliskova. Both players have met two times in their career, the Romanian winning both meetings, the last one being on 2014 in New Haven. Andreea Mitu and Raluca Olaru will take on Denisa Allertova and Barbora Strycova in the case of a decisive fifth rubber.  

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About the author
Liliana Martinez
Sports Journalist from Mexico City