Germany’s Angelique Kerber (R) celebrating with teammates after defeating Australia’s Samantha Stosur in the Fed Cup World Group semi-final at Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane on Sunday.


DPA/Stuttgart


Flying halfway around the world to Australia was far from an ideal preparation for the clay-court tennis season, but the German victory there for a place in the Fed Cup final made it all worth it, winning team member Andrea Petkovic said yesterday.
Petkovic, Angelique Kerber, Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld arrived back home earlier in the day after completing a 3-1 semi-final win in Brisbane on Sunday for a final date with the Czech Republic in November.
Now they need to regroup immediately for the biggest tournament in their home country, the Porsche Grand Prix, which starts today.
Kerber has a first-round bye as fourth seed, while the 2011 winner Goerges and Petkovic, a recent tournament winner in Charleston, have first-round tasks ahead of them in the tune-up event for the French Open grand slam starting in late May.
“It was a sacrifice. This is no ideal clay court preparation. But we have this common goal to win the Fed Cup. We have achieved something great and will just have to accept it if we don’t fare so well now,” Petkovic said.
Germany qualified for their first Fed Cup final since 1992, when a Steffi Graf-led team beat Spain for the nation’s second title in the women’s team event.
Graf instantly congratulated the team via Facebook, saying: “What a great victory..what a special Team!!! Congratulations one more to go Germany!!”
The four players and team captain Barbara Rittner looked astonishingly fresh as they briefly met the media in Stuttgart some five hours after their arrival in Frankfurt, dressed up for the player presentation where they received a big ovation.
“I feel pretty bad. I am tired but euphoric. We arrived here singing,” Petkovic said, describing the atmosphere on the 200-kilometre mini-bus ride from Frankfurt to Stuttgart.
The 26-year-old Petkovic had it especially rough, winning her third career title in Charleston on April 6, returning from the US to Germany and then leaving for Australia again on April 12.
“I feel like I am fighting 10 to 15 jet lags. One day my body will cave in,” she quipped.
Kerber agreed with Petkovic that the euphoria could carry them in Stuttgart, saying: “We are here and this is our favourite tournament.  We are very tired but take all the positive emotion to the court. We hope to win a few games.”
In Stuttgart, the Germans may get a first taste of the November 8-9 Fed Cup final, which will be played in the Czech Republic, as Petkovic could meet Czech number one Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals and Kerber run into Lucie Sagarova in the semis.
The Czechs lead Germany 6-1 in Fed Cup ties, and have won the event in 2011 and 2012, but Rittner insisted: “But we definitely want to win.”
The Stuttgart field, meanwhile, features six top-10 players, led by world number three Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and including Russian two-times reigning champion Maria Sharapova.
“I have very good momories, it feels good to be back here,” Sharapova said at the player presentation.
But former world number one and 2011 tournament Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark withdrew Monday, stating a wrist injury.