At the start of day two of the FedCup meeting between the Netherlands and Belarus, Kiki Bertens looked a lot less nervous than the day before. Her game against Aryna Sabalenka was convincing. Sabalenka played Arantxa Rus the previous day at an unprecedented high level. She made a few more mistakes against Bertens and was unable to reach that high level once again, but Kiki also gave her no room to dominate. Bertens’ service was excellent and she was able to put pressure on Sabalenka immediately. The Belarusian was not able to find her rhythm and didn’t played her best tennis. It resulted in a break for Bertens in the first set, so she won 6-4. Between the first and second set Kiki danced along to the cheerful music in the well-filled Sport Campus Zuiderpark in The Hague. With the support of an enthusiastic audience that made themselves heard (stand up if you are for Kiki!), Kiki continued in the second set in the same way as in the first. It resulted in an identical result: 6-4 for Bertens. In the mutual matches between Bertens and Sabalenka, the score is now 5-2 in favor of Bertens. It also marked the 20th singles victory for Kiki in the FedCup. There are only two losses against this, which makes it immediately clear, what great added value this player has for the Dutch team.
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