Czech Republic claim third Fed Cup title in four years post beating Germany 3-0

Czech Republic claimed a third Fed Cup title in four years post recording 3-0 win over Germany in the final.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won Sunday's opening singles rubber against Angelique Kerber to give the Czechs an unassailable 3-0 lead in Prague.

Kvitova, who defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday's opening rubber, saw off Kerber 7- 6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 in a thrilling three-hour contest, The BBC reported.

Germany remains without a Fed Cup title since Steffi Graf led them to victory in 1992.

The foundations for victory had been laid on Saturday when Lucie Safarova defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in the second singles match to put the Czechs 2-0 ahead.

No team has ever recovered from that deficit to win the Fed Cup and Kvitova was able to seal the victory, though not before an enthralling encounter with Kerber.

Kvitova said that it was an amazing match and she is just glad she did it. She admitted that it was up and down from the beginning of the match and she had to fight for every single point. Kvitova also admitted that maybe she was just lucky in the end, adding that they would celebrate now.

Czech Republic also won the tournament in 2011 and 2012, following five titles earned by the former Czechoslovakia between 1975 and 1988, the report added.