German anthem gaffe, gamesmanship row hit Fed Cup
Defending champions Czech Republic as well as Switzerland and Belarus reached the Fed Cup semi-finals Sunday but the tournament reeled following a gaffe over the German national anthem and accusations of gamesmanship.
As 17-time champions United States were trying to beat Germany and book a last-four date against the Czechs, their efforts were overshadowed by an embarrassing blunder over the German anthem played just before action got underway in Hawaii.
German star Andrea Petkovic said she had "never felt so disrespected" after an American soloist sang an old version of the anthem which leads off with a stanza considered overtly nationalist -- "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" -- a reference to German supremacy.
Singing that version is a major embarrassment in Germany, because of its strong links to the Nazi era, and only the third stanza of the old anthem is now in use.
Organisers apologised but a fuming Petkovic went on to lose to Alison Riske 7-6 (12/10), 6-2 to put the USA 1-0 up.
"I have never felt so disrespected in my life, it was an absolute effrontery and insolence, of the very worst kind," said the 29-year-old Petkovic adding that she and team-mate Julia Georges were in tears.
"We're in 2017 -- something like this should not happen in America. It is embarrassing and smacks of ignorance."
Germany team skipper Barbara Rittner described it as "a real scandal and inexcusable".
In Ostrava, Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova led defending champions the Czech Republic into the semi-finals for an unbeatable 3-1 lead against Spain.
In a clash of the teams' number-one players, world number three Pliskova overcame seventh-ranked French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2.
Then Strycova, ranked 17th, beat 70th-ranked Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 6-4 in almost two hours.
Seeking a fourth straight Fed Cup title, and sixth from the last seven editions, the 10-time champions Czechs will face either Germany or the United States in the semi-finals on April 22-23.
Switzerland knocked out last year's runners-up France after Timea Bacsinszky downed Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-5 in a 3hr 20min thriller before Belinda Bencic eased past Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-4 for an unbeatable 3-1 lead.
However, Bacsinszky was accused of gamesmanship by a frustrated Mladenovic.
On Saturday, world number 16 Bacsinszky left the court in Geneva for treatment to a wasp sting on her elbow while, on Sunday, she again sought medical help for a knee injury when a break point down in the sixth game of the deciding set.
When she returned, she took a 21-shot rally and claimed eight of the next nine points to stretch to a 5-2 lead.
"She did a kangaroo jump and ran better than before," fumed Mladenovic.
"There was the wasp attack and a medical timeout at 5-4 against Alize (Cornet, in the second set on Saturday) to regain her spirits.
"That's a lot in two days. There are rules, she uses them to the maximum, it's her way of fighting, she's known for it. I do not have values like this."
In the semi-finals, Switzerland will next face World Group debutants Belarus who defeated the Netherlands 4-1 in Minsk.
Aryna Sabalenka, 18, ranked 142 in the world, downed Michaella Krajicek 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 for the crucial point after Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the world number 128, defeated 24th-ranked Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-4 ending the Dutchwoman's eight-match winning streak in Fed Cup.