The Croatia women’s tennis team will not have the chance to play in the finals of the Fed Cup’s Euro-African Zone first group in Bath, as they lost to Serbia 2-1 on Friday. After the decisive doubles match, Olga Danilović and Aleksandra Krunić claimed victory over Darija Jurak and Ana Konjuh 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, reports HRT on February 8, 2019.
Serbia took the lead thanks to Olga Danilović’s win against Jana Fett 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7). In the duel, Fett recovered from 2-4 in the decisive set, saved the first match point at 4-5, and then two more in the tie-break (6-4), to miss a match point at 7-6. The Serbian tennis player won three points in a row and brought the first point to their team after two hours and 23 minutes of play.
Croatia’s best female tennis player Donna Vekić came back to equalize, defeating Aleksandra Krunić 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 after one hour and 46 minutes of play. Vekić led 5-1 in the second set but allowed her rival to get four games. However, Vekić secured the win with a series of seven games, and celebrated for the third time in this tournament under the leadership of Iva Majoli. Who would win the first place in the group was then to be decided by doubles.
However, unlike the duels against Turkey and Georgia, the doubles were unlucky for Croatia. Although Jurak and Konjuh won the first set 6-1, Serbia came back in the second set, and in the third, they had a break, which Danilović and Krunić used in the fifth game. Jurak and Konjuh did not have a chance to come back.
Serbia will play in Saturday’s final against the first-place team in Group A, which will be either the United Kingdom or Hungary. Croatia will play for third place against the defeated side.
The winner of the tournament in Bath will fight for entry into the World Group 2 in April.
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