By Tennis Now | Sunday, April 21, 2019
2016 French Open doubles champions Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic reunited to beat Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, clinching France's spot in the Fed Cup final.
Photo credit: Fed Cup Facebook
Reunited on the red clay of Rouen, Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic showed shared resilience leading France into its sixth Fed Cup final.
The 2016 French Open doubles champions rallied past Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, in the decisive doubles match clinching France's 3-2 comeback conquest of Romania.
More: Barty Leads Australia To Fed Cup Final
A dramatic victory propels France into its first Fed Cup final since 2016.
Les Bleus will travel to Australia for the November 9-10th Fed Cup final.
In an electric Fed Cup semifinal weekend, host Australia beat Belarus, 3-2, on the strength of three victories from Aussie No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who partnered veteran Samantha Stosur for a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka to clinch its first Fed Cup final in 26 years at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for Romania, which was one set from its first Fed Cup final in history only to see fourth-seeded France rally with some net aggression and vocal support from home fans, who engaged in an ongoing rally with the smaller, but loudly enthusiastic Romanian side.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Halep opened today's play fighting off Garcia, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-4, in a thrilling two hour, 57-minute battle that saw Halep convert six of eight break points.
It was Halep's sixth win in seven meetings vs. Garcia and put Romania up 2-1.
Veteran Pauline Parmentier fulfilled captain Julien Benneteau's faith in her game snapping a four-match Fed Cup losing streak subduing a gimpy Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, to level the semifinal and force the decisive doubles.
"I'm so happy to win this point," Parmentier told Fed Cup.com afterward. "I found out I was playing last night. I didn't sleep very well, and I was awake pretty early ready to play.
"I knew I had to push her behind the baseline and in the second set I was less aggressive, which allowed her to play a bit better. I was really focused in the third upping my intensity. This is my best-ever Fed Cup singles match. It's an amazing final."
It set the stage for a dramatic climax.
Playing their first Fed Cup match together since they lost the decisive doubles match, 7-5, 7-5, to the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova in the 2016 final, Mladenovic and Garcia weren’t always in sync against a speedy and spirited Romanian side at the outset.
Playing Roland Garros champion Halep at the back of the court with Niculescu prowling at net, Romania shrunk court space sometimes eliciting errors from Garcia and Mladenovic.
The first set was deadlocked, 5-all, when an energetic Niculescu took over with a series of clever angles and spins.
A lunging Halep nudged a stab volley then Niculescu ran around her forehand and lofted a perfect rainbow lob over a leaping Garcia for triple set point.
On the second set point, a scrambling Niculescu flicked another backhand topspin lob handcuffing Garcia, who muffed a reply into net.
Romania surged through the 49-minute opener largely on Niculescu’s net activities and her skill using the topspin lob to exploit Garcia’s uncertainty on the high ball.
Credit Garcia for shaking off a shaky end to the first set and saving a break point to work through a gritty 16-point hold to start the second set.
The French No. 1, who had struggled with her smash, thumped a diagonal overhead and exhaled in relief, breaking Niculescu for a 3-1 second-set lead.
Of course, a break isn’t truly a break until you hold. France reeled off four straight games for a 5-1 second-set lead before wrapping up the set to force a decider.
Tension tightened as the final set escalated while frenzied fans amped up cheering support.
Halep, who had fought so hard all weekend, double-faulted away the decisive break handing France a 5-4 lead.
On match point, Garcia hit a body serve to seal France’s sixth trip to the Fed Cup final and first since 2016.