Fed Cup: Play-offs decided in Ulcinj

ULCINJ, MONTENEGRO: The play-off standings were decided on the final day of round-robin action in Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Zone Group III.

Greece is the surprise nation in the promotion play-offs after it defeated No. 2 seed Montenegro 3-0. Greece were already on top of Pool B coming in to Thursday’s clash with Montenegro and they moved ahead in the tie when Valentini Grammatikopoulou defeated Nina Kalezic 61 61.

Greece’s place in the promotion play-offs was sealed thanks to Maria Sakkari who thrashed Kristina Samardzic 60 60 to give Greece a 2-0 win. Greek duo Eleni Daniilidou and Despina Papamichail then made it a whitewash with a comfortable 61 61 win over Kalezic and Samardzic in the doubles rubber.

Greece will face Denmark in the play-off after Denmark came back from 1-0 down to defeat Norway in Thursday’s action. Emma Flood gave Norway the lead with a 61 63 win over Mai Grace in the opening rubber.

World No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki levelled the tie for Denmark when she overcame Melanie Stokke 63 62 in the second rubber. That meant that the winners of the deciding doubles rubber would not only win the tie but also finish top of Pool C. Danish duo Grace and Karen Barbat defeated Flood and Caroline Rohde-Moe 64 62 to send third seed Denmark into the promotion play-offs.

Top seed Lithuania also moved into the promotion play-offs but found Cyprus to be tough opposition. Akvile Parazinskaite gave Lithuania the lead when she overcame Maria Siopacha 64 62 in the opening rubber.

Eliza Omirou then caused a shock by defeating Lina Stanciute 62 64 in the second rubber to pull Cyprus level. After both teams had defeated Iceland 3-0, the final group standings would be decided in the doubles rubber. All four singles players featured in the doubles rubber and it was the Lithuanian pair who won a close opening set 7-5 in a tiebreak. Parazinskaite and Stanciute won the second set to seal a 76(5) 64 win and book Lithuania’s place in the promotion play-offs.

Moldova will go head-to-head with Lithuania for that promotion spot after a 2-1 win over Namibia. The first rubber was a close one but Moldova’s Julia Helbet just edged past Kerstin Gressmann 64 76(6) to give the Europeans the lead.

Namibian No. 1 Lesedi Sheya Jacobs drew the Africans level with a 61 63 win over Daniela Ciobanu to force the tie into a deciding doubles rubber. Helbet teamed up with Alexandra Perper to defeat Jacobs and Liniques Theron 63 62 and send Moldova into the promotion play-offs.

The other match on Thursday saw Macedonia secure second place in Pool D with a 3-0 win over Mozambique. Marija Elenova won the opening rubber 61 60 over Marieta de Lyubov Nhamitambo, before Katarina Marinkovikj defeated Claudia Sumaia 60 64 to give Macedonia an unassailable 2-0 lead. The whitewash was sealed when Elenova and Marinkovikj defeated Nhamitambo and Sumaia 61 64 in the doubles rubber.

You can see the final group standings and the play-off line-ups here.
Source: Fedcup.com