Serbia Books First Fed Cup Final Berth

It may seem surprising that although they can count on two top players, Serbia has never quite experienced much Fed Cup success. There was a time when Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic were ranked 1 and 2 in the world, but busy schedules, distortions within the team, or sheer unluck prevented them to fulfill their potential in the teams' competition. 

While Djokovic's squad accomplished its mission by winning the 2010 Davis Cup final against France, the women seemed unable to match the feat. Nevertheless, this year, in a rather surprising moment, as both are struggling to recapture the form that took them atop of the rankings, Jankovic and Ivanovic have finally teamed up to do their nation justice. After a tight victory over Belgium in the quarterfinals, the Serbs took on Russia in the last four. The end of the first day saw the teams tied up at one all, after Jankovic cruised past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Kuznetsova obtained a hard fought victory over Ivanovic. When the play resumed on Sunday though, it was Serbia that draw first blood, as Ana Ivanovic found the strength to recover from a horrible start to eventually overcome an erratic Pavlyuchenkova and put the visiting nation in front. With Russia being a huge favourite to win the doubles tie, it basically came down to the last singles clash and Jelena Jankovic was up for the challenge. She was untouchable against Kuznetsova who seemed unable to prevent a tough loss for her country. The Serb won 6-1,6-4 to book a final showdown with defending champion, the Czech Republic. The latter came through an easy encounter with Italy, Petra Kvitova proving once more the decisive force behind her country's success as she won both singles matches. The tie will be held in early November in the Czech Republic.

Jelena Jankovic proved Serbia's biggest asset as she won both singles ties and sealed her nation's first Fed Cup final berth.

Although she lost her first match to Kuznetsova, Ivanovic brought in a decisive point, as she regrouped after falling 0-5 behind in the first set to eventually destroy Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6,6-0,6-3.

photos: AFP