The Aegon GB Fed Cup defeated Austria in their 9-12th play-off match of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Zone Group I competition in Budapest, Hungary.
The first singles match saw British No. 4 Tara Moore beat Tamira Paszek 6-2, 6-4 in 68 minutes. Eleven of the 18 games in the match were breaks of serve with Moore holding twice in the opening set (third and seventh games) and quickly jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Paszek, ranked No.26 in the world this time a year ago rallied, breaking in the fifth game and again in the ninth to get back to 4-5 only to drop serve again in the final game. Moore said after the match: “I’m very happy to have won my first Fed Cup singles match and to have given GB the first point.”
In the second singles, Britain’s Heather Watson beat world No.38 Yvonne Meusburger 6-4, 6-2. Watson got off to a quick 4-0 lead, Austria got one break back in the eighth game but Watson served out the set at 5-4 and survived a marathon fourth game to win the last five games of the match. “I’m so happy we got the 2-0 win today against Austria. They’re a very tough team. Tara did really well to get the first rubber and I’m really happy how I attacked throughout my match. It’s great to finish on a high.” This is the first time in Watson’s career she has beaten two Top 40 players in the same event.
The dead doubles rubber was not played.
Afterwards Captain Judy Murray said: “It was great to finish on a winning note after a challenging week. Tara came out really strong in her match, she was a real firecracker and Heather was amazing today. I’m very proud of the whole team. The only shame is that we won’t be playing Fed Cup again for another year, but we are looking forward to 2015.”
For more information go to www.LTA.org.uk/FedCup. To find a playing partner, a local court or coach, register at www.allplaytennis.com
Share