The last match, in which Katerina Siniakova outlasted American Sofia Kenin in front of a sold-out Prague O2 Arena, lasted almost four hours. “It was an unbelievable match for me,” Siniakova said right after the match. “It was up and down, with nerves. I’m extremely happy that I won. I thank all who came for their support. It was felt.”
The Czech Republic retained its perfect record in the Fed Cup finals by capturing the trophy for the sixth time in eight years by defeating the United States in the best-of-five final. The remaining two matches were not played.
On the way to the final, the Czechs beat Switzerland 3-1 in the first round and Germany 4-1 in the semi-finals. Then, on Saturday, Barbora Strycova beat Kenin to put the Czechs 1-0 ahead and Siniakova doubled the advantage with a win over Alison Riske.
Both of the teams, the Czechs and the Americans were missing top players. Karolina Pliskova was ruled out due to injuries and Petra Kvitova due to illness. Also, the Williams sisters, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys from the US team decided to miss out.
“It was terribly difficult, I do not know what to say. The score on paper is 3:0, but the action on the court does not correspond to it, it was really challenging,” said captain of the Czech team Petr Pála.
