Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/1119853
ITFWorld // SPRING 2019 2 5 ITFWorld // SPRING 2019 2 5 the youngest player to compete at this stage of the competition, while Lucie Safarova concluded her stellar career by winning the dead doubles alongside Barbora Krejcikova. Elsewhere, USA monopolised the singles on day two in San Antonio to secure their win over Switzerland, after Viktorija Golubic shocked Madison Keys in the opening rubber. But the other two ties produced away victories. In Riga, Germany ruined Latvia's dream of reaching the elite group for the first time. Without Anastasija Sevastova, much of the domestic burden fell on Jelena Ostapenko, whose error-strewn displays were unhappily short of her best. Thirtysomethings Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges took control for Germany on day one, while the winning point on day two was clinched by Mona Bartel, who was not even in the squad until Angelique Kerber was forced to withdraw with flu just three days before battle commenced. Carla Suarez Navarro was Spain's three-point heroine in Kortrijk as the visitors earned a 3-2 win over higher- ranked Belgium. Suarez Navarro crisply dismissed Alison Van Uytvanck and Yanina Wickmayer, before pairing with Garbine Muguruza – twice defeated in her own singles – to overcome Ysaline Bonaventure and Kirsten Flipkens, thus dislodging Belgium from the World Group. Meanwhile, all the World Group II play-offs were secured by their respective host nations, with three of the four completed in the minimum distance. In Moscow, it was all about the number four. Quadruple champions Italy met fellow four-time victors Russia, having defeated their hosts 4-0 the last time these sides met, in the 2013 final. Ultimately it would be 4-0 again, but this time Italy could make no impression. Without injured Camila Giorgi, they plummeted into a lower tier for the first time since 1997. In Osaka, the Netherlands not only drew a blank but lost 0-4 for the second tie in succession, capping what captain Paul Haarhuis described as "a very bad Fed Cup year" for his nation. Japan's Misaki Doi and Nao Hibino denied Richel Hogenkamp and Bibiane Schoofs so much as a set, before the dead doubles also went the way of the hosts on a tiebreak. Netherlands, semifinalists three years ago, have lost six of their seven ties since. The stakes were high in London where Great Britain were targeting a return to World Group II for the first time since 1993, having fallen at this stage four times since 2012. Four three-set singles were required to complete the task against Kazakhstan. Johanna Konta came back from a set down in both her contests to rack up her tenth and 11th straight wins in Fed Cup singles, but Katie Boulter had even more adventures. She held three match points against Yulia Putintseva before the Kazakh not only triumphed but celebrated with a surely unrivalled display of fist-pumping. Yet Boulter heroically banished that disappointment on day two, overturning a one-set deficit to defeat Zarina Diyas. There was something universal to all Fed Cup team values, at all levels, in the words spoken by the Kazakhstan team captain afterwards. "This is why we love this beautiful sport," said Dias Dokarayev. "It can turn from a dream to a nightmare very quickly. I'm proud of the way we fought. We left our hearts out on the court. In Fed Cup, nothng is certain until the last point." ■ France were in celebratory mood following their semifinal win Simona Halep won both of her singles matches