Paris: Defending champions Czech Republic as well as Switzerland and Belarus reached the Fed Cup semi-finals yesterday 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.