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STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Andrea Petkovic defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 to put Germany level at 1-1 against Australia in the first round of the Fed Cup World Group on Saturday.
With no third-set tiebreaker in the Fed Cup, Petkovic needed 3 hours, 16 minutes to prevail against the Australian No. 1 and tie the score following Angelique Kerber's earlier loss to Jarmila Gajdosova.
Kerber lost her rhythm after winning the opening set and Gajdosova, ranked 44 places below, rallied to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 49 minutes.
Kerber was to play Stosur with Petkovic facing Gajdosova on Sunday. A doubles match between Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki against Casey Dellacqua and Stosur would settle the tie if still level after the reverse singles.
Germany was last year's runner-up while Australia, which leads the countries' head-to-head matches 8-5, hasn't won the title since 1974.
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