Fed Cup 2012

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

RE: Fed Cup 2012

wolf · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
LTA reporting that the winner of Pool C plays the winner of Pool A (EST/AUT/BUL), which won't be any easier than winning Pool C in the first place, but preferable to having to play the winner of the POL/ROU pool, I would say.

From memory in the past the two highest ranked teams that reach the last four play the two lowest ranked teams (random draw).

wolf · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
Given Anne's record against the two Dutch players, it might be good if Krajicek overtakes Rus in the rankings over the next 2-3 weeks!

And also from memory who plays at number 1 and 2 is determined by the rankings as of the week of nominations and not the week of the tournament.

DavidC · Tennis legend

I agree broadly with Philwrig's assessment of the ties. Having neither a regular doubles partnership, nor a strong individual doubles performer to guide a pairing, makes us very vulnerable against Israel and the Netherlands

DavidC · Tennis legend

wolf wrote:
steven wrote:
LTA reporting that the winner of Pool C plays the winner of Pool A (EST/AUT/BUL), which won't be any easier than winning Pool C in the first place, but preferable to having to play the winner of the POL/ROU pool, I would say.
From memory in the past the two highest ranked teams that reach the last four play the two lowest ranked teams (random draw).

That's generally the case, but it isn't enshrined in the Fed Cup rules (or wasn't last time I looked). Hence it's plausible that they have gone against tradition this time, so that everyone knows in advance, but equally I wouldn't put money on the LTA being right smile

wolf · Tennis legend

I would say we would be pretty vunerable against Netherlands even with an unbeatable doubles pairing. Rus is perhaps a little overranked at the minute but she is very talented and had a very good Fed Cup last year as well as beating Clijsters at the French Open. I would say she is more than capable of beating Bally.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Julia Carrot wrote:
I would have thought Laura would be a strong choice for singles, if fully fit. It's just the sort of high pressure occasion that she's at her best in.

We have limited options for doubles with Laura/Hev or Laura/Anne being the only ones IMO. I saw Laura and Anne combine very well at Notts to beat the number 2 seeds before having to pull out. Not sure whether you could risk matching up Bally with anyone given she hasn't played with any of the other 3, and Anne/Hev haven't combined well in the past despite a number of attempts. Having fresh players coming in for the doubles is also I believe an advantage.

No doubt Laura will get to play singles at some stage, but thats how I would go right now.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Looks like it will be a close group with intriguing match ups against Holland and Israel. I am fairly indifferent as to Anne or Heather being second singles player atm, whilst Laura's lack of matches this year mean she will need a good Australian Open to come into contention for a singles place in the line up.

Agree with previous posts that doubles could well be our undoing here. Laura has had mixed results with both Anne and Heather, and certainly not done anything in doubles in the past 2 years to make her run with Sally Peers at the Australian Open seem any less remarkable than it did at the time.

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

I agree we are likely to see Laura in the doubles - with no standout doubles pairing amongst them, having a LH/RH pair is likely to seem more attractive than two right handers.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Fed Cup schedule is out:
Wednesday 1/2 @ 2pm GMT GBR v Portugal
Thursday 2/2 @ 2pm GMT GBR v Netherlands
Friday 3/2 @ 2pm GMT GBR v Israel (live stream)

I think thats a good schedule, to play the weakest team first. It will give Judy the opportunity to see all our players in action and then she can pick the best combinations in singles and doubles for the toughest match against the Netherlands the following day. Hopefully by Day 3 Israel will already be eliminated and provide an easier test than maybe the case if we played them day 1 or day 2.

If we can qualify for the playoff on the Saturday, Kanepi has withdrawn from The Estonian team making that potential matchup much easier. Our likely opponents in the playoff would probably be Austria which would be a 50/50 contest IMO.

Reeltime · Satellite level

Estonia will be struggling to put a team out without Kanepi

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

Here's the full details of our opponents - singles (after AO) / doubles (before AO) rankings and encounters with GBR team in the last year.

Of the 60 players competing, only 19 are ranked above Laura (4 Romanians & 3 Brits) - 3 in our group and 3 potential play-off opponents. Judy Murray & the Romanian coach seem to be the only with any real player selection difficulties.

Also, it doesn't look like any of our potential opponents has an established doubles pairing and few have even one doubles specialist.

UK
Bally: 57/UNR
Anne: 88/143
Heather: 106/193
Laura 118/814

Players outranking the equivilent GBR player are in bold assuming everyone picks their strongest ranked team (which we probably won't!)

Portugal:

Michelle Larcher De Brito: 136 / UNR (Lost to Heather in Memphis)
Maria Joao Koehler: 195 / 167 (Beat Laura/Heather in Barnstaple doubles, Heather in Shrewsbury doubles)
Barbara Luz: 534 / 750
Margarida Moura: 826 / 880

No regular doubles team - Koehler regularly reaches SF/FR of $25-$75k events. DeBrito played one game singe the last fed cup
Luz/Moura played once last year and lost R1 of a $10k
DeBrito/Koehler won both doubles matches they played last Fed Cup

Netherlands:

Michaella Krajicek: 79/69 (Beat Anne in Sydney, lost to Anne in Barnstaple doubles, lost to Heather in Quebec doubles, beat Anne/Tara in Prague doubles )
Arantxa Rus: 93/230
Bibiane Schoofs: 154/800 (Lost to Anne in Luxembourg)
Kiki Bertens: 167/201 (Lost to Anne twice - beat a not-fully-fit Heather in Luxembourg)

No regular doubles team:

Krajicek/Rus lost in last years Fed cup play-off
Bertens/Rus one a round in a $50k
Bertens/Schoofs lost 1st round of LUX $220k and a FRA $100k
Bertens won all 3 doubles in the group round in last year's fed cup with Hogenkamp and won a $50k in November partnering Anne Keothavong. (Anne beat her in singles & doubles the following week

Israel:

Shahar Peer: 37/48
Julia Glushko: 210/391 (Lost to Tara in Clermont)
Keren Shlomo:418/473
Deniz Khazaniuk: 459/999

Peer/Glushko were 2-1 in last year's Fed Cup doubles.

Then one of

Estonia: (technically possible!)

Anett Kontaveit: 584/969
Margit Ruutel: 832/UNR
Eva Paalma: UNR/UNR
Tatjana Vorobjova: UNR/UNR

Austria:

Tamira Paszek: 48/882
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner: 96/UNR
Yvonne Meusburger: 125/208
Sandra Klemenschits: UNR/79

Bulgaria:

Tsvetana Pironkova: 50/338
Elitsa Kostova: 151/216
Dia Evtimova: 158/770
Isabella Shinikova: 342/381

philwrig · Hall of fame

Thanks for the analysis RBBOT, I think the key thing is that we have avoided both Poland and Romania when it comes to a potential playoff matchup on the Saturday. Obviously we've got to get ther first which won't be easy. Portugal will be tougher than first thought due to the current form of their singles players. Koehler is also a useful doubles player so we could really do with winning both singles matches to avoid a showdown for the doubles.

I have been giving some thought to why we haven't been more successful in the past in this event, and the only theory I can come up with is a lack of a real team bond. Bally basically an outsider all year, comes in for this one week a year, to team up with the rest of team GB. If you look at the teams that have the most success in Fed Cup, they are the US and Italy, and both these teams players spend alot of time together at all the tournaments around the world. A bit like the Euro team compared with the US team in the Ryder Cup. Hopefully Judy can bring the team together more and get the best out of them. I heard through someone at Nottingham that Heather was a breath of fresh air and really added to the team energy last year.

indiana · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:
Ratty wrote:
philwrig wrote:
I have been giving some thought to why we haven't been more successful in the past in this event, and the only theory I can come up with is a lack of a real team bond.
If you look at the teams that have the most success in Fed Cup, they are the US and Italy, and both these teams players spend alot of time together at all the tournaments around the world.
This is the sort of statement which sounds as though it ought to be true - but life is rarely as simple as that.
I suspect that success in team tournaments like the the Fed and Davis cups is very closely correlated with the ranking of the individual players. And therefore that it is relatively rare for a tennis team to be better than the sum of its parts. In some ways this would hardly be surprising, because tennis matches are played by individuals, not by teams.
I'm happy to be proved wrong - as always - in the spirit of scientific enquiry!

I agree first and foremost, players rankings are important, but after that a team bond is the next important.

Yes, I had wondered if another theory to us losing Fed Cup matches was basically losing to better ranked players It would be the first one that would spring to mind, so I take it that that hasn't always been the case ? I don't really know the history as to whether we have been lost ties over the years that rankings have suggested we were favourites to win and vice versa.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 30th of January 2012 07:16:06 PM

wolf · Tennis legend

Last year injuries played a big part. The previous two years moronic team selection cost us.

-- Edited by wolf on Monday 30th of January 2012 07:17:31 PM