By Erik Gudris | Saturday, April 18, 2015
Serena Williams earned a crtical opening win to keep the U.S. team in contention against Italy in their Fed Cup tie.
Photo Credit: AP
World No. 1 Serena Williams found herself tested early before completing a much needed win for her U.S. team in their Fed Cup tie with Italy.
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Yet the World Group playoff ended on Saturday level at 1-all with the final outcome still to be decided at Brindisi, Italy.
Williams started off against the always dangerous Camila Giorgi in front of a packed 4,000 seat crowd firmly cheering for the home team. While Williams in her first clay match of the season produced her trademark power, there were also a few too many errors for her liking. Giorgi, known for her flat and potent groundstrokes, stayed even with Williams throughout the opening set.
Serving to stay in the set, Williams fired down a huge ace then celebrated with a fist pump as she knotted things at 5-all.
The set entered a tiebreak with Williams jumping out to an early lead only to have Giorgi come right back for 3-all. Williams finally found herself with a set point at 6-5 and clinched it by winning a scrambling rally that forced Giorgi to net on her final shot.
"The first set was tough. I needed to stay calm and make more shots, especially the deeper ones. I think I was hitting them short. So once I started hitting deeper, things worked out," Williams said later.
Williams relaxed in the second set and things went much smoother for her. Back to back winners while up 2-1 gave her several break points. Giorgi blinked and struck a double fault to hand Williams a 3-1 lead.
With the local crowd now subdued, Williams never let go of her advantage and soon found herself at match point. Once again, Giorgi faltered on her serve by hitting an ill-timed double fault. With that, Williams celebrated the 7-6(5), 6-2 win.
“She went out there and did really well,” Williams said later to FedCup.com. “Maybe it was just experience that helped me out.”
The Italian locals had plenty to cheer about in the second singles rubber. Sara Errani faced off against Lauren Davis making her Fed Cup singles debut and it was the former French Open finalist who proved too solid.
Errani raced out to a 5-0 lead before closing out the opening set 6-1. Though Davis managed to get to 1-all in the second set, the American could do little to halt Errani's charge.
With a 6-1, 6-2 victory, Errani earned her 20th Fed Cup victory of her career.
Italy and the U.S. now find themselves tied at 1-all entering Sunday's reverse singles rubbers and possible doubles. Williams will face Errani while Giorgi will take on Davis.