Fed Cup 2011

djlovesyou · Strong Club Player

RE: Fed Cup 2011

indiana · Tennis legend

djlovesyou wrote:

Hope they give heather and laura a few matches though.

Being there for the 'experience' is a bit pointless.

Hope the team for each match is simply selected as judged to give the best chance of the best overall Cup result.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Brilliant choice. Put Heather with Laura for doubles, get them used to working together and bond with eachother as a team because they're gonna be the future of our team. I think weve got a good chance of getting promoted if they come out firing, and neither girl is going to want to let the team down. Laura loves the big match so good luck to her.

indiana · Tennis legend

Re the doubles, again I'd just go for the what is tought to be the best selection for Fed Cup 2011.

If that's judged to be Heather and Laura then fair enough. I wouldn't do it just for experience or for getting them used to working together. They may not play together until the next Fed Cup so much of any bond gained would have been lost by then.

Think Anne comes into consideration here more than Elena, certainly when it matters.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Overall it was the obvious choice, if Heather hadn't have won in Canada Sarah may well have been the fourth pick.
What a conundrum for Nigel Sears regarding who to choose for the singles , if all four perform well in Australia. Not much to choose between all four at their best, but Bally has been the more consistent player so will probably be our number 1. Strategies will come into play. For example if our opponents have a weakness against lefties Laura will come into play or if they don't like to grind it out in long rallies Heather could be the choice. As for the doubles I would select the two who haven't been involved in the singles and given that there will be at least 4 matches there will be plenty of opportunities for all four players to have a crack at singles.
Competition will be very tough so qualification is unlikely.

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

Austria
Sybille Bammer, Yvonne Meusburger, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Sandra Klemenschits, Jurgen Waber (captain)

Belarus
Victoria Azarenka, Olga Govortsova, Darya Kustova, Tatiana Poutchek, Sergei Teterin (captain)

Bulgaria
Tsvetana Pironkova, Elitsa Kostova, Dia Evtimova, Magdalena Maleeva, Dora Rangelova (captain)

Croatia
Mirjana Lucic, Ajla Tomljanovic, Jelena Pandzic, Silvia Njiric, Goran Prpic (captain)

Denmark
Caroline Wozniacki, Karen Barbat, Mai Grage, Cecilie Melsted, Michael Mortensen (captain)

Great Britain
Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Nigel Sears (captain)

Greece
Eleni Daniilidou, Eirini Georgatou, Anna Gerasimou, Despina Papamichail, George Kalovelonis (captain)

Hungary
Agnes Szavay, Greta Arn, Timea Babos, Melinda Czink, Laszlo Keller (captain)

Israel
Shahar Peer, Julia Glushko, Keren Shlomo, Valeria Patiuk, Lior Mor (captain)

Latvia
Anastasija Sevastova, Liga Dekmeijere, Lina Lileikite, Irina Kuzmina, Juska Daiga (captain)

Luxembourg
Mandy Minella, Anne Kremer, Claudine Schaul, Tiffany Cornelius, Frank Eicher (captain)

Netherlands
Arantxa Rus, Michaella Krajicek, Kiki Bertens, Richel Hogenkamp, Manon Bollegraf (captain)

Poland
Magda Linette, Urszula Radwanska, Klaudia Jans, Alicja Rosolska, Tomasz Wiktorowski (captain)

Romania
Alexandra Dulgheru, Monica Niculescu, Simona Halep, Sorana Cirstea, Irina Spirlea (captain)

Switzerland
Patty Schnyder, Timea Bacsinszky, Stefanie Voegele, Myriam Casanova, Christiane Jolissaint (captain)

Denmark & Belarus with top 10 players, and Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, Romania, Latvia & Switzerland all fielding a Top 50 player.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Alot of strength in depth in that Romanium team.

LordBrownof · Futures level

And in the Hungary one too. Let's hope for Greece!

philwrig · Hall of fame

I would currently rank our singles players unless Bally can show she is back to her best as follows:
1. Heather
2. Bally
3. Anne
4. Laura

Of course the AO will give us more insight. Watching Heather last week I was so impressed.

A quote from a Robbo presser at the HC maybe also hints at Laura's surprise at how well Heather played.

Can I ask you quickly, its probably very far from your mind, about Heathers win in Auckland?

Shes done so well. I have no idea who shes playing now. I think she has got a really good chance. I havent seen Heather play since she was last in England, so she must be playing really, really well. Im very happy.

steven · Tennis legend

Laura being out for 3 weeks must put her participation in Fed Cup in doubt. Not a huge issue, given that she was probably the least likely of the four to play a singles match. Assuming they do draft in a replacement, I wonder whether it will be Katie or Sarah ... or someone else I haven't thought of yet. I guess if Katie (or perhaps Cav) show some form during AO Qs, that might tip the balance.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

steven wrote:

Laura being out for 3 weeks must put her participation in Fed Cup in doubt. Not a huge issue, given that she was probably the least likely of the four to play a singles match. Assuming they do draft in a replacement, I wonder whether it will be Katie or Sarah ... or someone else I haven't thought of yet. I guess if Katie (or perhaps Cav) show some form during AO Qs, that might tip the balance.

Oh No !!! My morning is getting worse and worse. I first assumed Fed Cup was past the 3 week window cry

steven · Tennis legend

Julia Carrot wrote:

steven wrote:

Laura being out for 3 weeks must put her participation in Fed Cup in doubt. Not a huge issue, given that she was probably the least likely of the four to play a singles match. Assuming they do draft in a replacement, I wonder whether it will be Katie or Sarah ... or someone else I haven't thought of yet. I guess if Katie (or perhaps Cav) show some form during AO Qs, that might tip the balance.

Oh No !!! My morning is getting worse and worse. I first assumed Fed Cup was past the 3 week window

Obviously it is past the 3-week window, otherwise it would clash with the end of the AO, but are they really going to want to plunge Laura straight into Fed Cup when she's been out for 3 weeks? Maybe they will ...

indiana · Tennis legend

If Laura doesn't make it I'd be termpted to change strategy a bit and go back to having Sarah in as a specilaist doubles player.

Guess it depends a bit on Sarah's doubles ( not played yet this year ? ) and say Katie's form. Isn't Cav out of the Aus Open qualifiers - injured too ?

philwrig · Hall of fame

I very much doubt if Laura is fit after 3 weeks out that she would be replaced.
It's not as if we have a ready made replacement.
Anne was selected last year after 6 months out with a serious knee injury.
It is 3.5 weeks until the first match so assuming Laura recovers in time she'll play in my opinion.

LordBrownof · Futures level

After seeing that match point save against Peng, I'd play Bally and Heather. Draft in Sarah and play her with Anne in the doubles. They've played together before and are good friends.