Belarus beats Germany to reach Fed Cup semis
Aryna Sabalenka won the opening reverse singles to send Belarus to the semifinals of the Fed Cup on Sunday.
Sabalenka cruised past Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1 to give Belarus an insurmountable 3-0 lead over host Germany in the best-of-five series on an indoor hard court at the Volkswagen Halle in Braunschweig.
The ninth-ranked Sabalenka hit 18 winners compared to five for her opponent to help Belarus avenge losing to Germany 3-2 last year in Minsk.
The Belarusian team that reached the final in 2017 will face the 2018 finalist United States or Australia in the semis in April. The two are tied at 1 after splitting the opening singles in Asheville.
In the remaining two first-round series, defending champion the Czech Republic was level with Romania after the opening singles while France had a commanding 2-0 lead over Belgium.
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