Americans Defeat Australians in Fed Cup World Group Playoff

April 18, 2016 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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The U.S. now moves back to competing in the World Group next year by beating Australia, 4-0, in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff on an outdoor clay court in Pat Rafter Arena at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

In the first match of the day, world number 36 CoCo Vandeweghe came from a set down to beat world number 26 Samantha Stosur, 26, 75, 64, in two hours and 18 minutes to clinch the victory for the United States. The win was also the first in her Fed Cup singles career for Vandeweghe, who now moves to 1-3. Vandeweghe also moved her lifetime record to 4-1 against Stosur. The U.S. team is now 3-1 when Coco takes the court. The Christina McHale-Daria Gavrilova match was not played.

“It’s a team effort and everybody worked really hard all week and they worked with each other, supporting each other and you take it one match at a time, it’s a cliché, but that’s how it works and you know, you do your best,” said U.S. Captain Mary Joe Fernandez. “The more you put yourself in these positions, the more comfortable you get in them and I think because Coco’s played before, I think that helped her a lot today.“

In the dead doubles rubber, the duo of Bethanie Mattek-Sands & CoCo Vandeweghe faced Daria Gavrilova & Arina Rodionova. Daria & Arina were substituted for Casey Dellacqua & Samantha Stosur. In the end, Mattek-Sands & Vandeweghe won the match, 6-1, 6-4, in one hour and 17 minutes.

With the victory, Mattek-Sands & Vandeweghe remain undefeated as a doubles team. In Fed Cup, Mattek-Sands moved her doubles record to 5-0 record, while Vandeweghe moved to 3-0.

The U.S. remains undefeated at 22-0 when leading after the first day of play (since the World Group format was instituted in 1995). The U.S. also improves to 10-12 all-time in Fed Cup ties played on the road, and holds an overall 146-36 record. The victory also moves the Fed Cup teams record to 11-3 in matches played in Australia/New Zealand.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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