STUTTGART – Australian Open quarter-finalist Andrea Petkovic gave Germany a 1-0 lead in the opening rubber of their Fed Cup play-off aginst the United States with a win over teenager Christina McHale. The 18-year-old from New Jersey had her serve broke on four occasions, while Petkovic, 23, only conceded her own delivery twice, to seal a 6-3, 6-4 victory in one hour 35 minutes.
The Americans are missing a trio of injured names here including both the Williams sister — Serena and Venus Williams — as well as Bethanie Mattek-Sands, ranked 41st in the world. US teenager Melanie Oudin, ranked 81st in the world, has the chance to level the scores against Germany’s Julia Georges in the next singles rubber.
On Sunday, Petkovic will play against Oudin in the singles, before Georges takes on McHale, who had recently made the quarter-finals of the WTA tournament in Charleston. In the doubles match, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki will play Liezel Huber and Vania King of the United States.
