BRISBANE, Australia : Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber had straight-set wins on Saturday to give Germany a 2-0 lead over host Australia in their Fed Cup semifinal.
Petkovic opened with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) win over Sam Stosur while top-ranked German player Kerber had little difficulty beating Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 6-0 in 51 minutes on outdoor hard courts at Pat Rafter Arena.
The reverse singles will be played on Sunday, followed by doubles.
Ashleigh Barty and Dellacqua, who reached three Grand Slam doubles finals last year, are expected to play doubles for Australia. But unless Stosur and Dellacqua can win their singles matches, the doubles match will be meaningless.
Germany is trying to reach its first Fed Cup final since 1992, when it beat Spain for the title.
