Kritik und Lob zur Stadt/Forum » What Bolland and Raymond have in common

Prague, Czech Republic (SportsNetwork.com) - Petra Kvitova rallied from a third-set deficit to beat Germanys Angelique Kerber, clinching a third Fed Cup title for the Czech Republic in the last four years. Kerber was primed to keep Germany alive in the best-of-five tie, up a break in third set, but Kvitova erased a 1-4 deficit by winning the last five games of the match to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-0 advantage in the weekend series. Kvitova blew a trio of match points before finally prevailing in a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 triumph. The two-time Wimbledon champ also beat Andrea Petkovic in Saturdays opening rubber and now owns a 23-6 singles mark in Fed Cup play. It was an amazing match and Im just glad I did it, said Kvitova. It was up and down from the beginning of the match and I had to fight for every single point. Maybe I was just lucky in the end. We will celebrate now. The Czechs also won the title in 2011 and 2012, losing to Italy in last years semifinals. Germany was bidding for its first Fed Cup crown since 1992 and lost to the Czechs for the third time in as many meetings over the past five years. The Germans avoided a shutout on Sunday when the doubles team of Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki notched a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Czech tandem of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. The second singles rubber was not played. Kerber, who lost to Lucie Safarova in Saturdays second singles rubber, held a 5-2 lead in the opening set Sunday, but Kvitova fought back with a pair of breaks to even it at 5-5. Another Kerber break gave the German the chance to serve for the set, but she couldnt close it out and the tiebreaker eventually went to the Czech with a forehand winner to close out a 76-minute first set. Kvitova then had the upper hand in the second set, breaking twice for a 3-0 lead. Kerber, though, broke twice to even it, and another break gave the German the set. In the decisive third, it was again Kerber that opened a lead at 3-0. A backhand winner in the second game gave the German a break and another backhand pass made it 4-1, but it was all Kvitova from there. After a Kvitova hold, a Kerber error in the next game gave the Czech the break she needed and she hit three straight winners in the following game to even the set at 4-4. A forehand winner put Kvitova ahead with another break and she opened a 40-15 lead in the next game. Kerber saved two straight match points, the first on a Kvitova double fault and the second with a forehand winner. She then saved a third match point before faltering on the fourth with a shot into the net, ending the marathon just three minutes shy of three hours. Im a little bit sad, but it was an unbelievable match, said Kerber. Now its over. It was still a great experience to be in the final. The Czechs deserved to win it. The fourth singles rubber was scheduled to feature Safarova and Petkovic. 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Signed until the end of the season as injury cover, Kallstrom might not be fit until mid-March after arriving Friday at Arsenal having injured his back earlier in the week while training with Spartak Moscow.TORONTO -- After taking a sip of water at the start of his news conference, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis made sure to thank the players who were around last season and left on the first day of free agency. "I just wanted to thank them for what they attempted to do over the last 12 months and wish them all the best going forward," Nonis said. Attempted might be the most important word after the Leafs went from being almost surely playoff bound to collapsing with an eight-game losing streak. Gone from that group are centres Dave Bolland and Mason Raymond, who signed elsewhere Tuesday. In come defenceman Stephane Robidas, signed to a US$9-million, three-year deal, and forward Leo Komarov, signed to an $11.8-million, four-year deal, along with forward Matt Frattin, re-acquired in a trade that sent winger Jerry DAmigo to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Its Noniss hope that those players change the Leafs mix back to more of what it was like in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, when they made the playoffs. "The compete level that we had two years ago, I think was at or near the top of the league," Nonis said. "We got more out of our players, the coaches did, the players themselves did in terms of pushing each other, than we did last year -- no question about it. Some of the players that were talking about either were here and will help us get that back or have a history of doing that. That was a focus for us." Robidas at 37 brings 885 games of experience to Toronto, along with a right-handed shot. He broke his leg while playing in the playoffs for the Anaheim Ducks but started skating last week and expects to be ready for Day 1 of training camp. Komarov returns from the 2013 Leafs after a year with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. He had four goals and five assists in 42 games that season, but the 27-year-old Finn is expected to have a much bigger role this time around. "Leo offers a lot more than I think even we got out of him two years ago," said Nonis, who met with Komarov in Finland and "laid that out so that he knew that he wasnt just a fourth-line guy that was playing six minutes a night, that we feel that he cann do more.dddddddddddd" Komarovs return could help fill the void left by the departure of Bolland, who signed for five years and $27.5 million with the Florida Panthers. Bolland said on a conference call with local media that the Leafs were close to bringing him back. "We were getting there," the 28-year-old Toronto native said. "We were just a little bit apart." Nonis did not begrudge Bolland for taking the more lucrative deal with the Panthers. "We feel our offer was very fair, very strong, it reflected his value to us," he said. "He chose to go somewhere else, thats his right. Hell be a good player for them ... The only way to prevent that from happening was to spend more than we felt was appropriate, and I dont think thats something we wanted to get into." Raymond also got more money than the Leafs were willing to pay: three years and $9.5 million from the Calgary Flames. Being closer to home was part of the Cochrane, Alta., natives decision to go there. Even before signing in Calgary, Raymond expected changes around the Leafs under new president Brendan Shanahan and after the teams late-season collapse. "I think we all wouldve loved to finish a lot better," Raymond said in a phone interview. "When you have new management or different changes within the organization, that (roster moves are) susceptible to happen." What Bolland and Raymond have in common is they werent around for the Leafs somewhat-expected 2013 season that Nonis seems to want to replicate. Komarov and Frattin, who was sent to Los Angeles a year ago in the deal that brought goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the Leafs, were. "We talked a little about the chemistry that we had two years ago and the work ethic and i think players playing outside their comfort zone," Nonis said. "Those are two players that played a big part in it." Notes -- Nonis said if a trade for restricted-free-agent goaltender James Reimer was there and made sense, the Leafs would make it. Otherwise, he reiterated, Reimer could be back next season. ... The process of hiring assistant coaches is still ongoing with no resolution as of Tuesday. ' ' '