MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Lucie Safarova defeated Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead in the final of the Fed Cup on Saturday.
Safarova’s 6-4, 6-3 victory over the former world No. 1 in the opening rubber of the best-of-five match puts the Czechs a step closer to retaining their title on Prague’s indoor hard courts.
Later Saturday, Jelena Jankovic will try to get Serbia off the mark in their its Fed Cup final when she plays world No. 8 Petra Kvitova, the top-ranked Czech.
On Sunday, Kvitova faces Ivanovic and Safarova plays Jankovic, before a potentially climactic doubles clash pits the Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova against the Serbian duo of Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic.