U.S. Falls to Italy in Fed Cup Playoff
Italians Sara Errani & Flavia Pennetta beat Americans Serena Williams & Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon to give Italy a 3-2 victory over the United States in the Fed Cup playoff matchup. The United States actually held a 2-1 advantage heading into the final two matches on Sunday, but dropped the last singles match and the deciding doubles match to fall short.
The two countries headed into Sunday’s action all square at 1-1. World number one Serena gave the U.S. the advantage with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 win over 15th-ranked Sara Errani to start things off on Sunday.
Serena battled through rust on the clay surface, and despite the victory, said she has a lot of work to do ahead of the clay-court season.
“Today has been a big eye opener,” Serena said following the win. “I need to go home and really train. I’m totally not as ready for clay-court season as I thought I was … next time, I’ll be really ready and I’ll know what to expect.”
The U.S. looked to be in control, but the absence of Venus Williams proved to be a big one for the Americans, who won just five games in the next two matches combined to come up short.
First, Pennetta rolled past 65th-ranked Christina McHale 6-1, 6-1 to knot the best-of-five series at 2-2. The 26th-ranked Italian then teamed up with Errani to blow past Serena & Riske in the deciding doubles contest.
“They are a very solid team and obviously, they have both been number one in doubles,” Serena said of the Italian duo. “I have been number one, so I felt like I had the opportunity to take some chances and do the best I can. They were the better team today, and ultimately, they got the win, which they deserved since they played better.”
Italy now moves on returns to the World Group, where they will compete for the Fed Cup trophy next year.
The United States’ loss drops them to World Group II for 2016.
“I think it is a big challenge,” U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez said of getting her team where it needs to be. “We have to work harder. We came close today and just keep plugging away. The good news is that we have a lot of players in the top 10 and hopefully, we can get two wins next year and get back into the World Group.”
Here are the other results from the weekend’s Fed Cup action:
World Group Semifinals
â–ºCzech Republic 3, France 1
​►Russia 3, Germany 2
World Group Playoffs
​►Netherlands 4, Australia 1
​►Switzerland 3, Poland 2
​►Romania 3, Canada 2
World Group II Playoffs
​►Serbia 4, Paraguay 1
​►Slovakia 4, Sweden 0
​►Belarus 3, Japan 2
​►Spain 4, Argentina 0
