Petra Kvitova defeated Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2 in under an hour to send the Czech Republic to the Fed Cup final with a 3-1 win over Germany on Sunday.

It will be the Czechs' sixth final in eight years.

Kvitova didn't give Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam winner, a chance, hitting seven aces and converting five of the six break opportunities she created.

After Germany failed to win a set on Saturday, Julia Goerges had pulled the score back to 2-1 by defeating Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-2 earlier Sunday.

Goerges sealed the win in under an hour with her eighth ace, denying the Czechs an early path to the final on Nov. 10-11.

But Germany had never recovered from 2-0 down before, and the Czechs had never let a 2-0 lead slip. The 10-time champion Czechs have won five of the last seven Fed Cup championships and now have an 8-1 head-to-head record against their hosts.

Germany's wait for its first title since 2014 continues.

 

Keys sends US into second straight Fed Cup final

Defending champion United States will play in a second consecutive Fed Cup final after defeating France 3-2 on Sunday.

Madison Keys secured the decisive point for the visiting team by beating Pauline Parmentier 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the second reverse singles. Keys' victory gave the U.S. an unassailable 3-1 lead over France in the World Group semifinals.

The Czech Republic will host the U.S. in the Nov. 10-11 final after defeating Germany 4-1 in Stuttgart.

The French later salvaged some pride in front of their home crowd as Amandine Hesse and Kristina Mladenovic beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

The 13th-ranked Keys, a late replacement for Vandeweghe, came back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set and made the decisive break in the ninth game of the second set with two consecutive winners.

"The girls did so well, both today and yesterday. We are very fortunate to have such a strong group and now we are looking forward to what is going to be a great final," U.S. captain Kathy Rinaldi said.

Parmentier fought hard until the end and saved two set points in the opener, but ultimately surrendered to Keys' deep groundstrokes. The Frenchwoman had a chance to break back while trailing 5-4 in the second set but Keys used her big serve to win three consecutive points and seal the match.

Earlier, Sloane Stephens had given a 2-1 lead to the U.S. with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of Mladenovic.

The U.S. Open champion delivered a ruthless display against the 20th-ranked Mladenovic and prevailed in 54 minutes. Stephens hit 16 winners and converted five of six break chances at the 6,700-capacity Arena Pays d'Aix on indoor clay.

"That was a really good one. You never anticipate a scoreline like the way it turned out but it was really solid," said Stephens, who earned two points for the U.S. team over the weekend in the southern French city.

The Americans extended their winning record to 12-2 against the French.

The U.S. beat Belarus 3-2 in the 2017 final.

 

Japan wins decisive doubles to beat Britain 3-2

Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya beat Johanna Konta and Heather Watson 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in doubles on Sunday to give Japan a 3-2 win over Britain in their Fed Cup World Group playoff.

Konta beat Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-3 in the first reverse singles to give Britain a 2-1 lead after the two countries split the opening singles matches on Saturday.

Kurumi Nara leveled the tie with a hard-fought 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over Watson in Sunday's second reverse singles before Kato and Ninomiya rallied to secure the win for the hosts.

Britain had won both of the previous two meetings between the teams — in Johannesburg in 1972 and Nagoya in 1985.

With the win, Japan secured a place in World Group II for the first time since 2014.

 

Barty wins twice, Australia beats Netherlands 4-1

Ashleigh Barty and Daria Gavrilova won singles matches Sunday to help give Australia a 4-1 victory over the Netherlands and a spot in the 2019 Fed Cup World Group.

Barty won her second singles match of the tie, beating Lesley Kerkhove 6-4, 6-2 in the first reverse singles on an indoor hard court at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

Gavrilova beat Quirine Lemoine in Sunday's second singles 6-3, 6-2. Lemoine double-faulted twice in the seventh game of the second set to hand Gavrilova a 5-2 lead, and the Australian clinched the tie in the next game.

The Russian-born Gavrilova draped herself in an Australian flag and completed a lap of honor around the court after clinching the victory.

"I was super nervous," she said. "Just playing for your country is so much harder than just playing any other tournament."

In the later meaningless doubles match, Gavrilova and Aiava Destanee, making her Fed Cup debut, beat the Dutch pair of Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs 6-3, 6-2.

On Saturday, Barty had a 6-0, 6-2 win over Lemoine after Kerkhove upset Samantha Stosur 7-5, 7-6 (1), leaving it level at 1-1 after the first day.

Gavrilova lost both her singles matches against Ukraine in February when Ukraine won 3-2 in Canberra, so Stosur got the start on Saturday.

With former French Open semifinalist Kiki Bertens among the Netherlands' top four players who decided not to play in Australia, Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis arrived in Wollongong without anyone ranked inside the top 200.