UPDATE: Romania 2 Czech Republic 3, Halep defeats Kvitova, Niculescu loses to Pliskova, doubles event was the decider match

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep has defeated Czech Petra Kvitova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday, in a thrilling encounter, to give Romania the lead 2-1 in the Fed Cup World Group match.

Monica Niculescu lost the match against Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, although she came from behind in the second set, so the general score between Romania and the Czech Republic reached 2-2.

In the doubles match, the guests decided to replace Denisa Allertova with Pliskova in the last minute. Thus, Andreea Mitu/Raluca Olaru faced Barbora Strycova/Karolina Pliskova. The Czech pair has won 6-2, 6-3, sealing the guests’ victory.

Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu (35^th WTA) shined on Saturday, in the second match of the day against Petra Kvitova, 9^th WTA, defeating the Czech tennis player 6-3, 6-4.

Niculescu controlled the match all the time, while Kvitova tried to find the antidote to the Romanian’s way of playing. Serving well, Niculescu continued to use her slice on the forehand and offered no gifts to the adversary.

Kvitova became nervous during the match and her attempts to be more aggressive failed.

In the first match of the Fed Cup World Group match Romania vs. Czech Republic, Simona Halep (3^rd WTA) lost 7-6 (4), 4-6, 2-6 to Karolina Pliskova (13^th WTA).

In front of 7,000 fans in the Sports Hall of Cluj-Napoca, Halep (24 y.o.) struggled to win the first set after a tie break in one hour, seven minutes, but gradually became soft to Pliskova’s strong serve, as the Czech player grew more confident — decisive in the third set.

After the match, Halep said: “I am glad I’ve been able to play here, I hope the disappointment is not too high. I haven’t succeeded, I was close, but recently I seem not to be able to close the matches. Against Pliskova it is hard to play according to a tactic. I tried to open the field, I tried to move her from one side to another. I was physically OK, but I’ve had some cramps. It is rather normal. I’ve trained a bit, but not much because I was ill. I believe I should have done much more, maybe if I was luckier. It’s hard to lose, I am very sad. We still have chances. I hope tomorrow I will be in better shape and I will win, we need to go on. I am sorry I wasn’t able to win, but I’ve done all I could.”