**Zone Play**
-- Poland advances from the Europe/Africa 1 Zone thanks to you-know-who. Although, thanks to two singles losses by Ula, the Radwanskas had to team up twice in doubles in make-or-break matches, first to advance out of Pool play (vs. ISR) to the Zone Promotional Playoff and then in the PO (vs. CRO, stopping 15-year old Ana Konjuh's FC week run at four straight s/d match wins). A-Rad is now 34-7 in singles/doubles matches during her FC career.
-- GBR vs. BUL in the other E/A Playoff, and BRA vs. CAN in the Americas Zone.
-- Kazakhstan defeated Uzbekistan to win the Asia/Oceania playoff as Shvedova/Voskoboeva win a deciding doubles match. Shvedova avoided being a goat here, as she went 1-2 in singles this week.
**WG II**
-- France is adrift w/o Bartoli, going down 0-2 to Germany after Day 1.
-- Flipkens falls to 8-15 in her FC career, losing to Romina Oprandi as SUI levels w/ BEL at 1-1.
-- FC stalwarts Larsson & Arvidsson (a combined 55-32 in their careers before Saturday) do no good for SWE. ARG leads 2-0, as does the Conchita Martinez-coached Spanish team over Ukraine.
**WG I**
-- Ayumi Morita levels the RUS/JPN tie w/ a win over Ekaterina Makarova, giving her 13 straight FC singles/doubles wins.
-- with SVK up 1-0 vs. the AnaIvo & JJ-less Serbs, Cibulkova leads Dolonc 6-4/5-4, but has to retire from the match with cramps. She's taken off the court on a stretcher, and the tie is suddenly 1-1. Hantuchova had to retire from a match last week. If SRB somehow survives this, it'll be a Queen Chaos Special, even with JJ never stepping onto the court.
-- Lepchenko knots USA/ITA tie w/ win over a cramping Roberta Vinci, who falls to 1-4 in her FC singles career (she's 17-0 in doubles, though).
-- Sam, Sam, Sam. In the CZE/AUS tie, with CZE up 1-0 (after Kvitova erased an early 4-2 hole to def. Czech-born Gajdosova in straights), Stosur led Safarova 3-0 and 4-1 in the 1st set, as well as 5-3. Things went to a tie-break. Stosur led that 6-5, then double-faulted and committed two more errors to drop it 8-6.
Things were knotted at 3-3 in the 2nd set tie-break, then Stosur stopped a point to challenge a call. She was wrong, then she didn't win another point, losing a second tie-break and the match 7-6(6)/7-6(3) as the Aussies go down 2-0.
I guess leaving Australia didn't help Sam much this time out.
All for now.
