Barbora Strycova has won 1:0 for the Czech Republic in the final against the USA.
It took the 32-year-old Czech player 2 hours and 43 minutes to score the first point against Sofia Kenin from the USA: 6:7 (5), 6:1, 6:4, the double specialist Strycova decided in her favour with a courageous serve-and-volley at the match point.
4:1 and 5:2 Stycova (WTA-No. 33) led already in round three, but 19-year-old Kenin (WTA-No. 51) stayed on and sniffed at the 5:4 and 15:30 from the point of view of Strycova.
The second match of the day will be played by Katerina Siniakova against Alison Riske.
On the Czech side, Petra Kvitova, who has a cold, is still out of action and may be scheduled to intervene on Sunday. Karolina Pliskova, the number one of the team, had cancelled her participation last week. Defending champions USA, on the other hand, will have to do without all their top players – neither Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys nor the Williams Sisters will compete in Prague.
Strycova confirmed during the meeting that this Fed Cup game was her last. “I was very nervous,” she said after her victory.