By Adrianna Outlaw | Sunday, February 7, 2016
The Netherlands celebrates its stunning upset of host Russia in the Fed Cup first round.
Photo credit: Fed Cup
Kiki Bertens helped turn the bottom of the Fed Cup draw upside down.
Russia opened the weekend as the heavy favorite. Bertens closed the show with a sweeping victory.
More: Hogenkamp Beats Kuznetsova in Longest Ever Fed Cup Match
Bertens beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 6-4, to clinch the Netherlands' stirring upset of host Russia sending the team into its first Fed Cup semifinal since 1997.
It is the eighth straight Fed Cup victory for the Netherlands, which does not have a Top 100-ranked player on the squad.
"This is unbelievable. I don’t think anyone expected that we could win this tie, perhaps we even didn’t," Bertens told Fed Cup.com. "It’s an unbelievable feeling."
The world No. 106 did not face a break point defeating a drained Kuznetsova in one hour, 26 minutes.
In an effort to shorten points, Kuznetsova tried playing the drop shot and taking ambitious swings with her forehand, but could not crack Bertens.
"I was also ready to play long rallies, but the thing is that throughout this whole tie, everything was going to the side of Holland because everything – line calls, net cords, drop shots – everything was going perfectly for them," Kuznetsova told Fed Cup.com. "I was unable to play my best, but I gave one hundred percent out on the court."
Bertens has been one of the toughest Fed Cup players of her generation. She raised her record in the international team competition to 19-2 overall, including a 13-1 mark in singles.
Fighting off fatigue after her grueling four-hour loss to Richel Hogenkamp yesterday, Kuznetsova had no answer for the explosive Bertens.
With Russian No. 1 Maria Sharapova sidelined from singles play with a shoulder injury, captain Anastasia Myskina's only other option was Fed Cup rookie Darya Kasatkina.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova got the call, but lacked the legs and energy to keep up with Bertens, whose only Fed Cup singles loss came last year to the Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
“We are now among the last four countries in the Fed Cup, so it’s just unbelievable,"Bertens said. "We perhaps don’t realize it yet. We have a few more months to realize it, and in April we are going to fight again for a place in the final."
The Netherlands will play either France or Italy in the April 16-17th semifinals.