Sabalenka, Sasnovich send Belarus to Fed Cup final, Slovakia through

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova

picked up two wins against Great Britain to guide Slovakia to the inaugural Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals in April.

Starting the day with Slovakia and Great Britain deadlocked at 1-1, Heather Watson

kept British hopes alive after sweeping past in straight sets. Playing at the AXA Arena in Bratislava, the home crowd willed Sramkova on to a second set surge, but Watson pulled through to win 6-0, 7-5.

World No.199 Schmiedlova took the court, having scored Slovakia’s first point after a solid straight sets win over Watson, 6-2, 6-3. She got the job done again in two, easing past Harriet Dart

with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in an hour and 42 minutes.

🇸🇰 The Slovakian team know how to celebrate 😂#FedCup pic.twitter.com/PUv4WqoOat
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 8, 2020

“I was as nervous as I’ve always been but maybe I now deal with it better,” Schmiedlova told FedCup.com. “One of my goals is to appear more confident and positive on court, and that really worked in this match.

“I haven’t played well previously in this competition, so getting the point for Slovakia was really important to me… Luckily we were on clay which helped me, and I was able to play really nice consistent tennis all the way through.”

What a moment 🙏@SabalenkaA puts the finishing touch on an incredible 4-6 6-3 7-6(8) doubles victory with Aliaksandra Sasnovich

View Profile #FedCup pic.twitter.com/kiSSYFsUL2
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) February 8, 2020

Also into the Fed Cup Finals in Budapest is Belarus, who came back from a 1-2 deficit against the Netherlands to edge through in a nail-biting tie that came down to the deciding doubles rubber.

After Kiki Bertens’ solid, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Aryna Sabalenka

put the Dutch ahead, put in a major performance to take down in three sets, 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 and send them into a decider.

Sabalenka and Sasnovich came back from a set down 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) in the thrilling final match, against the veteran duo of Bertens and Demi Schuurs to send Belarus through to the Final in Budapest.

Stephanie Livaudais