This weekend the Czech team has to play against Germany in the first round of the Fed Cup 2010.

During the week Lucie suffered from illness and it wasn’t even sure whether she would be able to play her matches.

One day after her 23rd birthday it was clear that she can play the opening match. During an interview she said:“I think we have a decent chance but we have to take it one step at a time and beat Germany first,”Additionally she mentioned: “I am very excited and I know the fans can make a big difference in an evenly-balanced tie like this,”

On Saturday her match against German Anna-Lena Grönefeld was the first one.

From the beginning Grönefeld played a good match. She used her power and her breack chances to get a comfortable lead. Lucie, still disadvantaged because of her illness, lost the match with 2-6, 2-6.

In the second match Petra Kvitova won against German Petkovic.

That means that the score after the first day is 1-1.

Today the Draw for the Fed Cup tie between the Czech Republic and Germany has beed made. Fortunately is fit again, as she was sick in the last days, and can compete in that tie. Germany´s number 1 player Sabine Lisicki is not playing that tie.

Saturday February 06th 2010
Lucie Safarova (CZE) vs. Anna-Lena Grönefeld (GER)
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v Andrea Petkovic (GER)

Sunday - Play starts at 12:00 (11:00 GMT)
Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)
Lucie Hradecka/Kveta Peschke (CZE) v Kristina Barrois/Tatjana Malek (GER)

Today is Lucie´s 23rd Birthday, a Happy Birthday from the complete website team

On Saturday and Sunday is the 1st round of the World Group in Fed Cup. The Team of the Czech Republic will face the Team of Germany in Lucie´s hometown Brno.

Czech Team:
Lucie Safarova
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Hradecka
Kveta Peschke
Petr Pala –> Captain

German Team:
Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Andrea Petkovic
Tatjana Malek
Kristina Barrois
Barbara Rittner –> Captain

The Draw, who will play against who first will be made on Friday in Brno!

After her first round loss against Venus Williams, Lucie still had to play her doubles match.

She played together with Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) against Elena Baltacha (GBR) and Liga Dekmeijere (LAT).

Unfortunately Lucie and Aleksandra couldn’t win the tight first set.

At the end they lost this first round match 5-7 and 2-6.

Lucie lost to a strong playing Venus Williams 2-6 2-6. But she is still competing in the doubles competition, where she teamed up with friend Aleksandra Wozniak from Canada.

In the first set Williams was the stronger player who was more aggressive. Although Lucie had two break chances she couldn’t use them because the number 6 seeded served too well in these situations. However, Lucie wasn’t able to came back after an early 3-0 lead for her opponent. At the end of the first set Lucie started playing better,but she lost this first set with 6-2.

The second set began perfectly for Lucie, she broke her opponens serve right at the beginning and lead 1-0, unfortunately Williams broke back immdiately.
Up to this Lucie improved her game and made less unforced errors and some great winners.
At the end Venus got the important points and games and won that match.

Venus said about Lucie and the game: “I was playing a really talented player. Everyone knows how well Lucie can hit the ball. She definitely gets a lot of pace, and she’s left‑handed. We’ve had some tough matches in the past. I just wanted to stay focused and execute my game. This was a great way to start.”