IN day three of our Fed Cup fantasy tennis simulation, Russia and Belarus have survived to knock out host nation Hungary, and the damaging Belgium from the Fed Cup title race. It also set up virtual elimination finals with last year’s finalists, France and Australia in the final group matches to be played on Friday.

RUSSIA (3) defeated HUNGARY (0)

Russia has earned the right to face France for a spot in the semi-finals after downing Hungary 3-0 in the opening match of the day. Ekaterina Alexandrova opened proceedings against Hungarian number one, Timea Babos to win in straight sets, 6-2 6-3. Babos fought hard early to hold serve twice and lead 2-1 at a stage, before Alexandrova cleaned up the next six games to win the first set 6-2. The second set was a similar story, with Babos also breaking early to take a 2-0 lead, but another fun on five games for Alexandrova saw the Russian talent take a 5-1 lead. Serving for the match, Alexandrova had a minor slip to see Babos break, before she broke her opponent straight back to take out the match.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had a much easier time against the 201st ranked Reka-Luca Jani, downing her 6-1 6-1 in an hour and 12 minutes. She won four consecutive games after Jani finally held serve in the third game, to win 6-1 in the opening set, then had a minor slip-up by being broken in the opening game of the second set. It was only a blip on the radar though, as the top 30 talent picked up the slack and won six consecutive games to hand her nation the victory with the straight sets win.

The tie was all wrapped up but Russia is one of the few nations that have a doubles combination separate to its singles players, with Veronika Kudermetova and Anna Blinkova taking to the court against Babos and Dalma Galfi. After being left out of the first doubles match, Galfi joined her top five ranked teammate on the court, and the pair instantly clicked. They won the first set 7-5 after trailing 1-4 at a stage, then proceeded to be 5-2 up in the second set. A disastrous end to the set saw the Russian duo win five consecutive games to take out the second set 7-5 and force a deciding third set. Once again it was Hungary that started strongly, winning four of the first five games, only to fade as Russia won four consecutive games to take a 5-4 lead. Babos and Galfi fought back to then take a 6-5 lead courtesy of a break, before Kudermetova and Blinkova forced a tiebreaker. It proved crucial as the Russian pairing won the tiebreaker 10-8 to go 2-1 up.

Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) defeated Timea Babos (HUN) 6-2 6-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) defeated Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) 6-1 6-1
V. Kudermetova / A. Blinkova (RUS) defeated T. Babos / D. Galfi (HUN) 5-7 7-5 7-6

BELARUS (2) defeated BELGIUM (1)

The second tie of the day lived up to all expectations with Belarus getting home in a thriller against Belgium. The day started out well for the higher ranked side with world number 11, Aryna Sabalenka defeating Belgian opponent, Elise Mertens in three sets. Sabalenka found the going tough early, trailing 1-3, but then recovered with some of the top tennis that saw her rise up the rankings to win the next four games and eventually take the first set 6-4. She started strongly out of the blocks in the second, winning three of the first four games, and led 4-3 at one stage, before Mertens came back from the brink to win the last three games – and five of the last six – to level the match at a set apiece. The pair traded blows early in the deciding set with Sabalenka leading 3-2 at one stage, then won a crucial break to move 5-2 up and hold long enough to win 6-4 4-6 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes.

The second match took more than an hour and a half but was the shortest of the lot as Alison Van Uytvanck kept her nation in contention thanks to a straight sets win over Grand Slam winner, Victoria Azarenka. The two were evenly matched throughout the first set, trading blows and breaks to go all the way to a tiebreaker before a couple of crucial winners from Van Uytvanck saw the Belgian win it 7-5. The second set was much of the same, with the pair at 3-3, then a crucial break in the eighth game – either side of a hold from the Belgian – helped her take out the match and level the tie at one win apiece.

It meant the doubles between Belarus and Belgium would decide the overall tie. Sabalenka and Azarenka would again team up, while Mertens would be joined by Kirsten Flipkens on the court. The Belgians raced off to a strong start, winning four consecutive games to lead 4-1, and whilst the Belarusians broke back to catch up at 3-4, the underdogs again stepped up to return the break and hold to take out the set 6-3. The second set was even tighter with neither side giving an inch, and Belgium had the chance to serve for the match, but were broken in the 10th game. The Belarusian pair won the next two games to win the set 7-5 and force a decider, which they led 4-2 at onestage. Mertens and Flipkens levelled proceedings at 4-4, but another crucial break for the higher ranked side resulted in Belarus winning the final two games and taking out the tie, 3-6 7-5 6-4. The win now sets Belarus up with a crunch game against Australia on Friday with the winner to advance to the semi-finals.

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) defeated Elise Mertens (BEL) 6-4 4-6 6-3
Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) defeated Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7-6 6-3
A. Sabalenka / V. Azarenka (BLR) defeated E. Mertens / K. Flipkens (BEL) 3-6 7-5 6-4