The 2011 Fed Cup final between Russia, four-time titlist in the last seven years, and the Czech Republic was decided by a doubles clash between Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke and Russians Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina with the Czech team winning 6-4 6-2 to secure a 3-2 lead and defeat Russia on home soil, which hadn't happened to Russia since 2003.

The two victories in singles for Czechs were both secured by Wimbledon champion and new world No.2 Petra Kvitova, who stayed unbeaten in six Fed Cup matches this year, and in the final she scored her 12th consecutive match win, with recent titles in Linz and Istanbul.

Kvitova first defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-2 and then Svetlana Kuznetsova the next day. The Sunday's match with Kuznetsova was their first career meeting, and Kvitova started with too many mistakes to lose the first set. The second set she won by winning five consecutive games, but in the third set she was again down, 0-3. However, Kvitova started playing much better and six straight game wins handed her a 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory.

The two Russian victories were Svetlana Kuznetsova's defeat of Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-3 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's 6-2 6-4 win over the same player. (photos via Fed Cup)

Members of Serbian Fed Cup and David Cup teams were handed over diplomatic passports by Serbian Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, during the Serbia Open ATP event in Belgrade. WTA players Bojana Jovanovski and Ana Jovanovic were present at the ceremony, beside their male colleagues Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic. The best two Serbian WTA players, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, did not attend the official event, but they will receive the passports.

Here's one part of Vuk Jeremic’s statement, whose initiative will allow Serbian tennis players to travel more easily:

I am honored to promote to diplomatic service people who have contributed to the popularity of Serbia in the world [...] there is not a single country in the world which wouldn’t be honored to have you as ambassadors.

You can see a lot of photos from the event here.

As you know, our reader Marine has recently started her own tennis blog, Tennis Notebook, and she already guest posted here on Women's Tennis Blog. Here article called Top 5 emotional players in women's tennis attracted a lot of comments and was even referred to in one of the most prestigious Serbian newspapers. Now Marine would like to share with you her experience from last weekend's highly dramatic Fed Cup tie in Bratislava, Serbia vs. Slovakia, especially marked by the doubles match which the Serbian team won 2-6 7-5 9-7 after 3 hours 17 min and a 6-2 5-1 and 30-0 deficit.

As I recently announced I went to see the encounter between Serbia and Slovakia so I wanted to share some of my impressions of the action with you.

The first little adventure was actually getting my tickets which I carefully booked a month before. How big was my surprise when I realized that I was supposed to pick them up within a certain time limit and 16th April they were no longer accessible! So the drama started even before the actual match did. I was frantically looking for help because I did not travel from as far as UK to see nothing at all. Fortunately the help came soon and a few minutes afterwards I was sitting comfortably at the arena which was quickly filling up with excited fans.

On the day one I watched both encounters in full. I preferred the match between Dominika Cibulkova vs. Bojana Jovanovski (4-6 6-3 6-1) not only because it was Dominika who won it but also because from that point I realized that the players came out to show the fans their best tennis. I loved Dominika’s fighting spirit and enthusiasm and Bojana’s performance was great too, she is on a good way to follow in JJ’s and Ana’s footsteps.

The encounter between Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic (2-6 4-6) was exciting although quite one-sided because Ana started to dominate soon in the first set and since then never let Daniela steal her momentum.

Day two was a lot more eventful, especially towards the end (sigh). As this was the day when everything was to be decided all the players were really pumped up for the action and all of the matches were great tough battles.
Dominika again scored a win, this time over Ana Ivanovic  (6-4 3-3 Ab.). It  had a bitter ending for the Serbian who had to retire because of an injury which was, judging by the look on her face, pretty painful and it was obviously wearing her down.

In the other match JJ has shown why she was a No.1. The match was very difficult, it was clear that Daniela intended to correct her score from the previous day and she challenged Jelena from the first to the last point. I think this match must have drained a lot of energy from both but also it was a great demonstration of their fighting spirit.

And the third match,the deciding doubles Hantuchova/Rybarikova vs. Jankovic/Krunic brought a result which surprised everyone mainly because of a dramatic turn in the match which made it Serbia’s great triumph and Slovakia’s great fall.

Well, it was a VERY emotional experience, especially from the Slovak’s point of view as you can imagine but I won’t bring up negative emotions to this post. However, if anyone was interested to know how "ticked off" I was after the whole event was over may I interest you into reading the "rant" published on Tennis Notebook. Have fun, laughter through tears is a huge source of relief (photos via Fed Cup)

The other Fed Cup semifinal, played between the Czech Republic and Belgium, is tied at 1-1 after Saturday's play. World No.18 Petra Kvitova avoided an upset and overcame Kirsten Flipken's stern challenge to win 6-2 7-6(4). The 23rd-ranked Yanina Wickmayer, the strongest player in the Belgian team with Kim Clijsters missing, won a closely-fought encounter with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4 6-4.

Other Saturday's scores:

World Group Play-offs

Germany-USA 2:0

Spain-France 1:1

Slovakia-Serbia 1:1

Australia-Ukraine 1:1

World Group II Play-offs

Belarus-Estonia 2:0

Slovenia-Canada 1:1

Switzerland-Sweden 2:0

(photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The 19-year-old Jovanovski has been awarded in the World Group and World Group II first round category, while the Zone Group I winners are Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, Peru’s Bianca Botto and Japan’s Ayumi Morita. The winners receive a Baccarat bracelet and a cheque which they can donate to a charity of choice. A total of six players will be recognized this year.

2010 Hearth Award winners
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) World Group semifinals
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) World Group / World Group II play-offs
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) World Group / World Group II first round
Maria-Fernanda Alves (BRA) Americas Zone Group I
Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) Asia/Oceania Zone Group I
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) Europe/Africa Zone Group I

(source: On the Baseline, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The ITF had decided to postpone the Fed Cup matches between Japan and Argentina because of the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe in Japan. They wanted Japan to realize its right to have Fed Cup played in its territory, but they had to put the date off from April to July 16-17. The exact venue of the World Group II playoff is known now – instead of Tokyo, Kobe will host the event, on hardcourts of Bourbon Beans Dome. (source: ESPN, photo via Fed Cup)

The first thing I’d like to point out is that Russia recovered their Saturday’s two hurtful losses on home soil in Moscow (Svetlana Kuznetsova’s to Alize Cornet, and Maria Sharapova’s to Virginie Razzano) and defeated France 3-2 to reach the semifinals. At least on paper, the improvement happened when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova replaced Maria Sharapova! Pavlyuchenkova defeated Cornet, Kuznetsova defeated Razzano, and the two of them together clinched victory for Russia by winning the deciding doubles over Julie Coin and Pauline Parmentier.

Russia will play holders Italy in April’s semifinals. Italy eased past Australia 4-1, and that result includes the repeat of the 2010 French Open final in which Francesca Schiavone beat Samantha Stosur.

The other semifinal will feature Belgium and the Czech Republic. Belgium won 4-1 against the United States, last year's runners-up. Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer both won their two singles matches. As for the Czech Republic, they earned an unassailable 3-0 lead with Petra Kvitova’s victory over Daniela Hantuchova in the first singles match on Sunday. Later, Czech Lucie Safarova retired from the match against Slovak Jana Cepelova in the third set, and the Slovaks won the doubles, so the final score is 3-2.

Additional info: You must be expecting me to update you on the Serbia vs. Canada World Group II tie. Well, Serbia won 3-2 after a deciding tight doubles match! By winning all the matches she played, Bojana Jovanovski just confirmed her status of a solid player rushing to the very top, but there is more great news – Serbia has a new tennis prospect lurking, Aleksandra Krunic took our hearts and showed that she is also the one to watch! The 17-year-old Krunic closely lost her singles match against Rebecca Marino on Saturday, but then didn't let the disappointment repeat and earned the victory for Serbia in the decisive doubles, teamed up with Bojana Jovanovski. (photo via Fed Cup)

The first day of Fed Cup play came to a close, and let's have a look at how it went. In the above screenshot you can see the World Group First Round results.

Australia and Italy are tied at 1-1 after Day 1, which featured two three-setters. Jarmila Groth defeated Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta defeated Samantha Stosur.

Russia lost both singles rubbers on home soil! Maria Sharapova lost to France's Virginie Razzano and Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Alize Cornet.

The Czech Republic has good prospects of improving their perfect 3-0 record against Slovakia, as Petra Kvitova beat Dominika Cibulkova, Lucie Safarova beat Daniela Hantuchova, and both matches were finished in two sets.

Belgium is doing great with the latest Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters in their team. The winner of the 2011 Australian Open scored a 6-0 6-4 victory over American Melanie Oudin, while Yanina Wickmayer saw off Bethanie Mattek Sands, 6-1 7-6(6).

I'd also like to mention the Fed Cup action happening in my city of Novi Sad, Serbia. As it can often happen in Fed Cup, new faces have a chance to draw attention to themselves. Last year it was the case with Bojana Jovanovski, who is now an established player ranked as high as No.54, with very bright prospects. Actually now she is the leader of Serbian team, with Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic absent, and she defeated Aleksandra Wozniack 6-4 7-5 during Saturday's World Group II First Round. Still, the preceding match, encounter of 17-year-old Serbian Aleksandra Krunic, ranked 281st, and Canada's world No.84 Rebecca Marino, was much more emotional.

Krunic lost the match 6-3 3-6 7-5, but only after showing lots of heart and fighting spirit. After dropping the first set, Krunic established a 3-0 lead in the second, and managed to take the match to the third set. Marino raced to a 5-0 lead, but it wasn't over! The less experienced Krunic won five successive games and even had a break point for a 6-5 lead! But that's when Krunic's lost opportunities struck, and Marino won her service game and soon after the match.

Krunic started drowning in tears, knowing how close she was to victory. She shouldn't be sad, though, as she showed great spirit and got herself back from what seemed to be a straightforward defeat in the deciding set. With more experience, more luck will come as well!

Additional info: I came across this video of Bojana Jovanovski's training and I saw a familiar face. Her trainer is actually a woman that was my pilates trainer for years! Haha the world is so small. (photos via Fed Cup)

Fed Cup will take place over the weekend of February 5-6, and of course the most important matches will be those among the World Group nations. So who plays whom and where in this first-round action?

Australia meets twice defending champion Italy in Hobart. Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone, who secured the win for Italy in 2010, are in for the challenge this year as well. Their strongest opponents this time will be Samantha Stosur, Schiavone's opponent in the 2010 French Open final, and Jarmila Groth, who won her second WTA title in Hobart in January.

Russia, the owner of four Fed Cup titles, will face France in Moscow, and the Russian team will be strengthened by Maria Sharapova, who is making her first appearance at a home tie. Interestingly, Russia hasn't lost at home in eight ties. Also in the Russian team are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dinara Safina. As Aravane Rezai and Marion Bartoli will not play, world No.67 Alize Cornet will lead France's team.

Neighbors, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will clash in Bratislava. Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova will try to improve Slovakia's 0-3 record against the Czech Republic, this time led by world No.18 Petra Kvitova, who started the season with singles title at the Brisbane International and then the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Belgium and the United States are meeting up in Antwerp. Kim Clijsters, fresh off her Melbourne title, will play for her country, alongside Yanina Wickmayer. The United States team consists of their loyal players: Bethanie Mattek Sands, Melanie Oudin, Vania King and Liezel Huber.

Additional info: I have to mention that the Fed Cup will be played here in Novi Sad, Serbia, as well. Serbia is facing Canada in the World Group II first round. My Fed Cup weekend has been surrounded by all sorts of bizarre things: first I bought the tickets, then the next day I got the tickets for free, and then I developed some leg infection, pretty much out of nowhere, which is doing better, but I still don't know whether I will be able to go, even though the venue is walking distance from my home. I'm still positive, though!

Bojana Jovanovski will lead Serbia's team, in absence of Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. Aleksandra Wozniak and Rebecca Marino will be there for Canada. Or am I ill-informed? The WTA Tour website states that Serbia and Canada will play in Belgrade, and that Jankovic will lead Serbia's team! What? Here's the quote: "For Canada, a Jelena Jankovic-led Serbia looms large in Belgrade." (Schiavone photo by Nadia Ballari)

Flavia Pennetta beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-1 6-2 in the fourth singles rubber of the Fed Cup final in San Diego, secured the second straight Fed Cup title for Italy and their third in five years. Italians believe that their close friendship, love of the game and their country plays a great role in their Fed Cup achievements.

Here are the words of Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti:

The secret is this is a team which has played with each other a lot and they all respect each other. And they love to play in this competition. In some way, they feel that this competition is their competition, our competition. It is almost like a love affair. They feel it's something very important to play for Italy, for their country.

And here’s what Pennetta said after winning her eighth successive Fed Cup match:

I really enjoy playing for my country and I really enjoy playing for this team. We are all friends with each other and we spend so much time together.

The final score of the Italy vs. the United States Fed Cup final is 3-1. Italy won the first two matches with Francesca Schiavone defeating Coco Vandeweghe 6-2 6-4, and Flavia Pennetta beating Bethanie Mattek Sands 7-6(4) 6-2. Melanie Oudin won that sole match for the US with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Schiavone. And finally, as mentioned, Pennetta clinched the victory.

The leader in the number of Fed Cup titles is still the US with 17, Australia has seven, the Czech Republic and Spain follow with five, Russia has four, and Italy has three now. (source: Reuters, photo via Fed Cup)