By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Stuttgart, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Germany and Australia split their two opening singles matches Saturday in the Fed Cup quarterfinals.
After Jarmila Gajdosova gave the visitors the first point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Angelique Kerber, Samantha Stosur nearly pulled off a similar comeback against Andrea Petkovic.
However, Petkovic won the more than three-hour battle, squaring the best-of- five tie at a match apiece with a 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 triumph.
Petkovic broke Stosur twice in the opening set, but the Aussie rebounded with three breaks of serve in the second to force a decisive third. It took nearly two hours to finish.
The players traded breaks early in the third and couldn't dent each other again until it was 10-10. Petkovic fired a backhand winner that clipped the line and was upheld by a review for the break. She then completed the match with a hold of serve to make it all even heading to Sunday.
Stosur is scheduled to face Kerber in the first reverse singles match Sunday with Petkovic and Gajdosova to follow.
The potential deciding doubles match is slated to feature Stosur and Casey Dellacqua for the Aussies against the German duo of Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki.
Germany was last year's Fed Cup runner-up to the Czech Republic and has won two of the last three meetings with the Aussies, who reached the Fed Cup semis last year for the first time since 1993. Germany hasn't hoisted the trophy since 1992.
The winner will face either Russia or Poland in a semifinal in April.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/germany-and-australia-even-after-opening-fed-cup-singles