Ukraine and Italy level after opening day

KHARKIV (Ukraine) (AFP) – Flavia Pennetta beat Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets to keep defending champions Italy on track in their Fed Cup opening round showdown against hosts Ukraine here on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Pennetta won 7-5, 6-3 in one hour 39 minutes to level the score at 1-1 after Alona Bondarenko earlier beat Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.
“I had no right to lose today after Francesca (Schiavone) lost her opening rubber,” Pennetta said. “It was a tough and very tight match today. I was just a little bit better making slightly less own mistakes.”
“The judging was not perfect today but it was not biased as the referees were making both-sided mistakes.”
Pennetta, ranked 12th, broke early for a comfortable 3-1 advantage.
Bondarenko managed to break back to level at 4-4 but Pennetta broke again in the 11th game for a one-set lead after 55 minutes.
In the second, Pennetta broke twice for a 3-0 advantage before Bondarenko reduced the arrears breaking back in the fourth game.
Pennetta produced the deciding break in the ninth game to win the set, the match and to level Italy’s record with the hosts.
Earlier, the elder Bondarenko sister Alona recorded Ukraine’s first ever win in the World Group beating Schiavone in straight sets to record her third win in seven meetings with Schiavone.
“It was really important to get a winning start in our first ever World Group match,” Bondarenko said.
“But it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests,” she added.
“I started well and felt confident in the first set but early in the second Schiavone came back and dominated play. Luckily I managed to stay in the game and won the set and the match.”
Bondarenko got off to a strong start with three breaks for a commanding 5-0 lead before Schiavone chalked up her first game also with a break.
But the experienced Italian veteran looked a pale shadow of her normal self with a string of unforced errors allowing Bondarenko notch up her fourth break to take the opening set in 34 minutes.