Summary Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic overcame an early scare to beat Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (2), 6-3.
OSTRAVA:- Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic overcame an early scare to beat Jarmila Gajdosova 7-6 (2), 6-3 Saturday and give the defending champion a 1-0 lead over Australia in their Fed Cup first-round series.
Kvitova struggled with her serve and was down a break in the first set before recovering and dominating the tiebreaker.
She then broke her 168th-ranked opponent four times in the second set to make up for losing her own serve twice, and converted her first match point when Gajdosova s backhand sailed long.
Later Saturday, Lucie Safarova played Sam Stosur in the second singles match on indoor hardcourt at CEZ Arena in the eastern city of Ostrava.
The winner of the best-of-five series faces Italy or the United States in the semis.
