Some fabulous tennis as the Fed Cup semi-finals rolled into Sochi in Russia for their tie against Germany, and defending champions Czech Republic faced up to France in Ostrava.
Our teams were there providing news coverage with a satellite playout for the International Tennis Federation once again, plus videos for social media. We cover all facets of the ties, from the players dinners to the official draws, the post draw interviews and we are on court working with the host broadcasters for the winning, and then losing interviews with the players and Captains.
The dominant Czech team which includes Petra Kvitova, ranked No.4 in the world, won with a 3-1 margin, and are perhaps favourites to win the title for the fourth time in 5 years.
Meanwhile over in Russia, it was an excellent tie between two strong teams. Russia went 2-o up on the first day, but then Andrea Petkovic (ranked 11) and Angelique Kerber (ranked 12) led a German fightback to level the tie at 2-2. That set up a Doubles rubber that would decide the finalists, and the Russian duo of Pavlyuchenkova and Vesnina prevailed with a 2-0 victory to send the spectators home happy. The finals are next November in Prague.
http://www.fedcup.tv/video/i/1042049/title/czech-republic-v-germany-a-review/f/video-type:highlights