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P etra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber may have some way to go yet before they can be mentioned in the same breath as Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, but the head-on clash between the Czech and German No. 1s in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final in November promises to be every bit as captivating as some of those contests between their legendary predecessors. It will certainly stir memories for Barbara Rittner, who was a lesser known member of the German team who won the title in 1992 when Graf was their lynchpin. Now Rittner is captain of the team and proudly leading them back to a final for the first time in all those years following their impressive 3-1 defeat of Australia in Brisbane in April — a victory, furthermore, that was managed without the services of Sabine Lisicki, last year's Wimbledon runner-up. Of course, a Fed Cup Final is nothing new to Czech Republic who have passed this way twice before in the last three years, winning the trophy in 2011 and 2012 when on each occasion Kvitova's contribution was significant. It was so again in Ostrava when the tall, slender but powerful blonde won both her singles rubbers as the Czechs avenged their defeat to the holders Italy in last year's semifinals with a thumping 4-0 victory. One had to smile at the way Petr Pala, the Czech captain, broke the news of what they had in store for their Italian guests by way of playing surface. "I hope it will be the difference because when we play in Italy they always prepare a nice clay court surface for us, so now it's our turn to prepare our surface... I think and I hope that it will give us a small advantage." It did all of that, although it has to be said Kvitova presents Sara Errani, the Italian No. 1, with problems on any surface, including clay — she even beat her in last year's semi. It was probably that as much as Errani's poor form in the first rubber against Lucie Safarova that led to her being stood down from the third rubber against Kvitova. Errani had been handed the "lucky" golden ticket wrapped up inside an Easter egg at the draw which meant she played first. Some luck, she must have thought as she went down 64 61 to Safarova, a player who though ranked 15 places beneath her held a 2-1 advantage in their head-to-head. While that opening loss didn't exactly consign Italy to overall defeat it certainly made their task a lot more difficult as Kvitova underscored when she then beat Camila Giorgi 64 62. The young Italian had reached her first tour final, in Katowice, the week before, but soon discovered that a freak storm that had caused a power failure at the CEZ Arena had had absolutely no effect on Kvitova's energy supply. The Czechs have had some experience of dealing with adverse weather in this year's competition, having outlasted both Spain and the rain in Seville to win a delayed tie 3-2 in the first round. back big FED CUp BY BNp pARIBAS in the time Germany is through to its first Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final in 22 years, and will face old hands Czech Republic at home. Clive White reports. The German team celebrates a longed-for return to the fi nal 22 ITFWORLD SPRING 2014