Kerber blasts past Romania’s Halep to put Germany ahead

Germany's Angelique Kerber put her country 2-1 up in their Fed Cup play-off against Romani
AFP

Bucharest (AFP) – Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber blasted her way past Simona Halep on Sunday to put Germany 2-1 up in their Fed Cup World Group play-off away to Romania.

In a superb performance, Kerber needed just 67 minutes to seal her 6-2, 6-2 victory over Halep, who received plenty of vocal support from the home crowd at the Sala Polivalenta Arena in Cluj-Napoca.

“It was a tough match. Simona is a tough player. I am really happy about my performance today. The atmosphere here is amazing and I really enjoyed it,” said Kerber.

Her team-mate Andrea Petkovic now has the chance to give the visitors an unassailable 3-1 lead when she faces Irina-Camelia Begu in Sunday’s second singles rubber.

It had finished all square on Saturday after Romania’s Halep, ranked sixth in the world, needed just under three hours to secure her 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win over Petkovic after Kerber had beaten Begu.

Germany are in the play-off after their 3-2 defeat at home to Switzerland in February and are bidding to stay in the top flight, as are Romania following their 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic.

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