ITF

ITFWORLD WINTER 2017 19 www.itftennis.com At the Fed Cup, Stephens would fall to Sabalenka 63 36 64 in the second match of the first day of action to leave the final tied at 1-1. Sabalenka, an aggressive player who always play full-steam- ahead tennis, posted 31 winners and 57 unforced errors in the upset over Stephens. "This match is a good experience for me because I've never felt these emotions, playing at home and the score is 0-1," Sabalenka said. "You fight with yourself, and finally I did it and I start crying because it was a really important match." On Sunday, Stephens served for the fourth rubber against Sasnovich at 5-3 in the third set, but couldn't pull off the win, allowing the Belarusian to take the match 46 61 86. In the end, Sasnovich had to serve for the match twice, but would even the tie to 2-2 and force the weekend into the doubles decider. While disappointed not to deliver the Fed Cup to Belarus, it was apparent the Belarusians were content with the performance they put forth in the final. The home country's fight was especially impressive considering they were minus the presence of Victoria Azarenka, their most notable player and a two-time Australian Open champion, who was in the middle of a custody dispute with her infant son Leo's father in California. "We are really satisfied we gained this result," said Eduard Dubrou, the Belarusian captain, through an interpreter. "[The final] showed we have a good team because last time we faced the team of USA it was 5-love and today we were really close to a good result for us." The Americans celebrating their 18th title The sell-out Chizhovka Arena Belarus nearly forced a third set in the deciding doubles A US fan Shelby Rogers in doubles action Vandeweghe and Rogers refused to be deterred. Once in the second-set tiebreaker, the USA won five of the final six points to clinch the title.

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