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Today is the first day of the Fed Cup tie against Slovakia. But that's not until 4 this afternoon...
I spent the morning in the Bratislava City Museum, housed in the Old Town Hall. This was a fascinating insight into the history of Bratislava up to 1940, beyond is covered in other museums, for example in Bratislava Castle. Some of the rooms were quite spectacular, in particular the old court room and the chapel. The tour ends in the basement with an impressive, and gruesome, display of medieval instruments of torture.
I then headed off to D.Steakhouse for lunch. This consisted of a lovely fillet steak and chips, followed by an espresso.
On the way to the National Tennis Centre, I took a detour via the Slovak Radio and Television building, which is an inverted pyramid.
Now to the Fed Cup. After the opening ceremony, it was....
Match1: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (199) V Heather Watson (74) 6-2, 6-3
A slow start from Heather saw her go 0-40 down. She saved two break points but the third drifted long. In the next game Heather had 2 break back points at 15-40 but failed to convert them or two further chances. Heather then managed to hold in the third game.
In the fourth game Heather secured the break back on her second attempt, but then lost serve again to go 3-2 down. Another break saw Heather facing 2-5. She fought well but lost the first set after 50 minutes.
Heather is playing well but needs to up the level a notch or two on the crucial points...
Well, the second set started the same as the first as Heather was immediately broken. In her next service game Heather won 4 points from 15-40 down to keep the deficit down. Can this mark a turning point?
Heather held 2 break points in the fourth game, but the Slovak played well to secure the game. Games went with serve which meant that at 3-5 Heather was serving to stay in the match. She went 0-40 down then won the next two points. Another long raly ensued until Heather hit wide.
In the end Schmiedlova played the crucial points well and Heather made too many unforced errors.
After 1 hour 32 mins, Slovakia are ahead 1-0.
Match 2 Viktoria Kuzmova (65) V Harriet Dart (141) 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5
A strong start from Harriet saw her hold serve to love in the second game and then gain a break point in the next game, though Kuzmova saved it and the game.
Games continued to go with serve and Harriet put in a fantastic performance to hold at 4-5 down. Two games later she needed to do the same.
A couple of missed first serves saw Harriet face a set point, which she saved with aplomb. The Slovak's ball hit the net and landed in to create a second match point. On the third set point the Slovak's ball again hit the net but this time landed out. Harriet then won the next two points to take the set into a tie break
First blood to Kuzmova as she went 2-0 up but then Harriet won the next 4 points. A call from a spectator half way through the next rally may have helped the Slovak win it. However Harriet won the next three points to secure the first set after 58 minutes.
At the beginning of the second set Harriet had to save a break point before securing the first game. In the fifth game Harriet faced a break point which she saved with a second serve that hit the service line. She then faced a second break point which the Slovak hit long. Harriet then secured the game for a 3-2 lead.
The sixth game was one of several deuces where Harriet created 4 break points, but to no avail. Then in the seventh game Harriet was broken to 15. Harriet played a poor service game at 3-5 as the Slovakians levelled the match after 1hr 44 mins.
Momentum was with the Slovaks as Harriet was taken to 0-40 in the second game. She saved two break points but not the third. She then took Kuzmova to 30-30 but couldn't prevent the Slovak from going 3-0 up. It's a long way back now as Harriet has a medical timeout.
Serving at 3-1 Kuzmova started with two double faults before going 0-40 down. She saved a break point then double faulted again and we're back on serve. Game on!
However Harriet was immediately broken again. She then had a couple of chances to get the break back but Kuzmova hung in there and all of a sudden Harriet had to serve at 2-5 to save the match.
Harriet won the game, forcing Kuzmova to serve for the match. She's not going down without a fight. She took a 0-40 lead but Kuzmova saved all the break points and then had a match point that Harriet saved before breaking back.
From 0-40 down Harriet saved 2 match points to make it 30-40. Harriet then perfectly illustrated her never-say-die spirit as she twice retrieved an overhead before the Slovak hit the ball wide. Harriet had to save a further set point to win the game and level the set at 5-5.
In a tight 11th game a visibly frustrated Kuzmova eventually managed to hold serve.
Serving at 5-6, the fifth match point proved too much for Harriet and Kuzmova won the match after 2:55
Harriet's battling performance was outstanding as she made her Fed Cup singles debut. Sadly though, it wasn't enough and in the end Kuzmova's greater experience won the match.
Great Britain now have to win all three runners tomorrow to qualify for the finals, so it's not looking likely that I'll be making a trip to Budapest in April.
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