Tennis: Fed Cup Romania v Czech Rep. 0-1, Halep loses to Pliskova

Romania's Simona Halep (WTA No 3) lost 7-6 (4), 4-6, 2-6 to Karolina Pliskova the first match of Romania v Czech Republic in the World Group of Fed Cup, on Saturday. 

In front of 7,000 fans in the Sports Hall of Cluj-Napoca, Halep (24 y.o.) struggled to win the first set after a tie break in one hour, seven minutes, but gradually yielded to Pliskova's strong serve, as the Czech (23. y.o, WTA No 13) grew more confident - decisively so in the third set. 

Thus, after two hours and 34 minutes of play, Fed Cup holder Czech Team leads Romania 1-0. 

The second match scheduled Saturday afternoon opposes Romania's Monica Niculescu to Czech Petra Kvitova. AGERPRES