Kiwis ease into Fed Cup pool final
Another day, another easy victory for New Zealand in the Fed Cup in Wellington, with a 3-0 win over Singapore.
This was always expected to be another comfortable win for New Zealand, especially when considering that Singapore lost to Mongolia on Thursday.
In New Zealand’s final pool A tie yesterday, Valentina Ivanov started the day with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Sarah Pang.
That was followed by Paige Hourigan winning 6-1 6-1 against Hx Isabella Tan and then Erin Routliffe and Emily Fanning beat Pang and Tammy Tan 6-0 6-0.
In the final today they’ll play the Philippines, which should be only moderately tougher than what New Zealand have experienced so far.
While this tournament has been a bit too easy for New Zealand, it is good preparation for next year if they’re promoted to Asia Oceania Group I, where things will be considerably tougher.
The New Zealand players haven’t been pushed much this week, but it was important for them to try to keep their levels up and stay aggressive, although Ivanov admitted she did that a bit too often against Pang.
‘‘I felt like I was going for a bit too much, it’s a lot windier than it was the last few days.
‘‘Marina [Erakovic, Fed Cup captain} was telling me to calm down and then it felt like my game came together.’’
Ivanov, 18, said Pang gave her plenty of opportunities, but she needed to choose the right ones to attack.
‘‘I felt like the ball I was getting was quite short, so I’m inclined to go for everything,’’ she said.
‘‘But not every ball is the right ball to go for, especially when it’s windy and you’re not going to time every ball great.
‘‘So when I did slow down a bit, set my point up and then go for it, it was a lot better and cleaner tennis.’’
When not playing or practicing tennis this week, or supporting her team-mates, Ivanov can often be found in a corner of the players’ lounge with her head in a computer.
That’s because she’s having to mix up her tennis with her studies at the University of California in Berkeley.
‘‘I’ve been doing so much schoolwork the last four days. Marina and the team are like ‘what’s going on?’’’ Ivanov said.
‘‘I’m taking four classes right now and I’ve had stuff due every night, which sucks, but I’ve had to do it.’’
Ivanov chose to go to college in the States rather than head straight on tour. It means she gets to play high level tennis, without the cost of being on the circuit, while she also gets a college education out of it.
While that will be good for her in the long run, it’s meant her week in Wellington has been full on, especially because of the subjects she’s studying.
‘‘I’m doing a math class, a writing class, also sociology and a US history sociology education class,’’ she said.
‘‘So four classes, lots of writing and math has been a bit of a battle.’’