Tennis
Slovakia beats Spain in Fed Cup WG playoff
Tennis

Slovakia beats Spain in Fed Cup WG playoff

Published Apr. 22, 2012 6:48 p.m. ET

Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova won their reverse singles matches to earn Slovakia a place in the Fed Cup World Group after building an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Spain on Sunday.

Cibulkova won her second singles match of the playoff series by beating Silvia Soler-Espinosa in straight sets, while Hantuchova had to rally to from a set down to defeat Lourdes Dominguez-Lino 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Spain's Arantxa Parra-Santonja and Nuria Llagostera won the remaining doubles rubber, beating downing Magdalena Rybarikova and Anna Schmiedlova 6-0, 6 (7)-7, 6-3, to make it 3-2 to Slovakia.

The 17th-ranked Cibulkova used her powerful forehand to break Spain's No. 1 six times en route to winning 6-4, 6-4.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cibulkova slapped Soler-Espinosa's serve across the court for her 27th winner of the match to claim victory on the red-clay court in one hour and 51 minutes.

''It wasn't easy today, it was an especially tough match,'' Cibulkova said. ''She was playing aggressively and serving well. But I showed that I am better maybe mentally.

''I was just going for it and I was confident, and that was the key to winning.''

The 22-year-old Slovak player also beat Dominguez-Lino in straight sets on Saturday.

Dominguez-Lino dominated Hantuchova early to move ahead in just over half an hour, using a combination of low ground strokes and drop shots to keep the world's 20th ranked player off-balance.

But Hantuchova settled down and overcame 67 unforced errors to seal the crucial win in two hours and 44 minutes with an unreachable backhand winner.

share


Get more from Tennis Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic