Perth, Australia (AP) — Kristina Mladenovic inspired France to a drought-breaking Fed Cup triumph after a nail-biting 3-2 win in the final against Australia on Sunday.
Mladenovic combined with Caroline Garcia to beat Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match at Perth Arena. She produced a herculean effort on the outdoor hard court after earlier Sunday upsetting the top-ranked Barty in a three-set thriller to move France into a 2-1 lead.
French Open winner Barty’s remarkable season ended in heartbreak just one week after her historic US$4.42 million triumph at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
Former French Open doubles winners Mladenovic and Garcia broke three times to power France to their third Fed Cup title and first since 2003.
It was redemption for Mladenovic and Garcia who lost the decisive doubles match against the Czech Republic in the 2016 final.
“It’s a lot of emotion to share this with (Garcia) after we failed on the last step three years ago,” Mladenovic said. “We just wanted to take this little revenge for ourselves.”
Australia captain Alicia Molik hoped her team could rebound after losing their ninth straight decider stretching back to their last triumph in 1974.
“We will use this moment for fuel to drive us into the future,” she said.
“It’s absolutely epic. This one is special because it’s playing in the final for the country in front of an amazing, packed crowd,” said an emotional Mladenovic after the match.
Barty started where she left off against Garcia, firing back-to-back aces to take the first game then broke Mladenovic’s serve on her way to claiming the first set in 33 minutes.
But the French No. 1 fought her way back into the contest and took advantage of a series of unforced errors by Barty to force a deciding set.
“She was the aggressor, took a few more chances and got the reward out there,” Barty said.
In April, a revamped Fed Cup will comprise 12 teams playing over six days for an $18 million prize on clay courts in Budapest, Hungary.
By Tristan Lavalette Source: Pattaya Mail
