Kerber puts Germany into Fed Cup final

BRISBANE: Angelique Kerber put Germany into their first Fed Cup final in 22 years with a fighting victory over Australia´s Samantha Stosur in the semi-final in Brisbane on Sunday.

World number seven Kerber fought back from dropping the opening set to beat former US Open champion Stosur 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 in two hours 14 minutes to give Germany an unassailable 3-0 lead over Australia.

The Australian pair of Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty prevented a wipe-out when they claimed the "dead" doubles rubber 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 10-2 over Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld. The final result was Germany 3, Australia 1.

Germany will play either the Czech Republic or Italy in the final.

Left-hander Kerber showed great resilience to bounce back in the pivotal singles rubber and win seven games straight after the opening set to turn around the momentum, fighting off the 19th-ranked Stosur to take victory and put Germany into this year´s final.

Germany last won the competition in 1992 when Steffi Graf and Anke Huber starred in the team which defeated Spain.

The Germans took a firm grip on the semi-final winning Saturday´s opening two singles rubbers in the best-of-five match tie.

It was Kerber´s first win in three encounters against Stosur. (AFP)