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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

U.S. beats Germany to advance to Fed Cup semifinals

CoCo Vandeweghe flexes her muscles while celebrating with USA Fed Cup teammates Alison Riske, right, and Shelby Rogers after her singles win clinched the team victory over Germany at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch in Lahaina, Hawaii on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. (Matthew Thayer / Associated Press)
By Robert Collias Associated Press

KAANAPALI, Hawaii – CoCo Vandeweghe won the final 10 games to beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Sunday and give the United States an insurmountable 3-0 advantage in their Fed Cup quarterfinal match.

The U.S. advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2010.

The fourth singles match was canceled, and the doubles match was set to be played later on Sunday.

The U.S. will host defending champion Czech Republic in the semifinal to be played April 22-23 at a site to be announced. The Czech Republic beat Spain 3-2. The final is set for November.

Vandeweghe, the world’s 20th-ranked player, put the U.S. ahead 2-0 earlier in the day when Julia Goerges retired with an injury in a match that was halted by rain Saturday with Vandeweghe ahead 6-3, 3-1.

Vandeweghe gave credit to the sun-baked Maui crowd, one day after rain pelted the court.

“You guys pulled me through, that’s the bottom line,” she said.

Vandeweghe was suffering from cramps in the second set.

“I was just trying to manage, that was basically it, and keep persevering,” she said.

Alison Riske put the Americans ahead in the first match Saturday with a 7-6 (10), 6-2 victory over Petkovic.