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56 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2015 TENNIS BOXING Go to www.maltatoday.com.mt and get SMS alerts SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO RECEIVE BREAKING NEWS Kvitova and Sharapova leave Fed Cup final tied THE Czech Republic and Russia were tied at 1-1 after the open- ing matches in the Fed Cup final on Saturday as Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova each notched vic- tories. Kvitova, the Czech No.1, got off to a nervous start against Anasta- sia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening match, committing 15 unforced errors to help the Russian take the first set 6-2. The two-time Wimbledon cham- pion settled down after the break and stormed back to grab the next two sets 6-1, 6-1 with the Russian double-faulting on match point. In the second singles, the world number four Sharapova, playing in her first Fed Cup final, beat Karo- lina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4, rekindling Russian hopes of winning a first Fed Cup title since 2008. Kvitova said the support of a rau- cous home crowd at the O2 Arena had helped her overcome nerves in the first set as the Czechs set out to defend their title and claim their fourth Fed Cup triumph in five years. "I was nervous since yesterday just like every time at the beginning of a tournament and it was really difficult to get going," Kvitova said. "I missed some easy balls and it was difficult for me to turn it around." Sharapova's match against world number six Kvitova on Sunday now becomes pivotal to the outcome and the Russian expects it to be close. "It's the last match of the season against an opponent I know really well," Sharapova said. "It is just go- ing to come down to a little bit here or there." After the Kvitova-Sharapova showdown, Pliskova plays Pavly- uchenkova and the title could be decided by the doubles between the Czechs Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova and their opponents, Ekat- erina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Russia's Maria Sharapova reacts during their final match of the Fed Cup tennis tournament against Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova in Prague, Czech Republic Wlad open to Joshua fight H E A V Y W E I G H T king Wladimir Kl- itschko has opened the door to fights with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder next year. The WBA Super, WBO and IBF world champion takes on Tyson Fury on No- vember 28 and sees himself - not the un- beaten trio of Fury, Joshua and Wilder - as the biggest threat to his future at the top of the division. Klitschko, 39, of- fered Sky Sports an intriguing insight into his mentality during an exclusive interview, answering questions from fans as well as fellow box- ers such as British world champions James DeGale and Jamie McDonnell. When asked about facing Brit- ish sensation Joshua, Klitschko said: "Anthony Joshua first has to fight Dillian Whyte on De- cember 12. Let's do it step by step. "First of all, I need to conquer Tyson Fury and Anthony needs to take care of his business. Next year, we'll see how the cookie crumbles. "I've been trying to get the WBC title and unif y all the ti- tles. Due to some internal box- ing politics it was impossible so Deontay Wilder is the WBC champion. "He has his mandatory chal- lenger in Alexander Povetkin and then we'll see. Obviously it would be nice to unif y all the titles. "The biggest threat and the scariest, most dominant heav y- weight is sitting in front of this camera. The fight against my- self is the worst fight because usually if you fight yourself, philosophically speaking, you're going to lose or win but it's the toughest opponent." Klitschko (64-3-KO53) is cur- rently in Austria training for his Dusseldorf date with Fury (24-0-KO18). YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Wladimir Klitschko