Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18
Monday 13 noveMber 2017

U.S. beats

Belarus to BILLS PAID

win its 18th

Fed Cup title

By SANDRA HARWITT Saints push win
Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — A streak to seven
17-year championship
drought came to an end
Sunday for the United
States when it beat Belarus
3-2 to take its 18th Fed Cup
title. CoCo Vandeweghe
and Shelby Rogers defeat-
ed Aryna Sabalenka and
Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3,
7-6 (3) in the deciding dou-
bles of the 2017 final. It was
the first Fed Cup title for
the U.S. since 2000. “It feels
perfectly believable and
unbelievable,” Vandewe-
ghe said. “I’m ready for a
vacation.” The Belarus pair
led 5-2 in the second set
and served to level at one-
set apiece in the eighth,
10th and 12th games. The
Americans dominated the
tiebreaker, winning five of
the last six points. Sasnov-
ich had kept Belarus alive
after beating U.S. Open
champion Sloane Ste-
phens 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 to leave
the final level at 2-2 on the
indoor hard-court Chizhov-
ka Arena. Vandeweghe
earlier beat Sabalenka 7-6
(5), 6-1 to give the U.S. a 2-1
lead. Kathy Rinaldi, in her
inaugural season in charge
of the Americans, became
the first female captain in
the tournament to lead a
Fed Cup team to victory
since Billie Jean King for
the U.S. in 2000. “It’s been
an incredible ride thanks to
these ladies,” Rinaldi said.
“We’re family and we’ve
had each other’s backs. New Orleans Saints’ Michael Thomas
This was a very tough (13) catches a pass above Buffalo
match.” The U.S. holds the Bills’ Shareece Wright (20) during the
most Fed Cup titles in the second half of an NFL football game
international team compe- Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Orchard
tition. This was its fourth Fed Park, N.Y.
Cup final since last winning Associated Press
in 2000. It lost the 2003, 2009 Page 20
and 2010 finals.

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