Fed Cup 2015 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I

Spectator · All-time great

RE: Fed Cup 2015 - Europe/Africa Zone Group I

steven · Tennis legend

The tale of a week of up and downs, yesterday definitely the high point, today a bit inevitable with Vika playing, though I hoped JoKo's win yesterday would have given her the confidence to push Govortsova a lot closer, having only lost to her 7-5 in the 3rd the other time they played.

GBR 3 LIE 0
Johanna Konta WR 145 beat Kathinka von Deichmann (LIE) WR 334 (CH 309 last Nov) by 0 & 0
Heather Watson WR 38 beat Stephanie Vogt (LIE) WR 169 (CH 137 last Feb) by 2 & 3
Jocelyn Rae/Anna Smith CR 192 (96+96) beat Stephanie Vogt/Kathinka von Deichmann (LIE) CR 753 (99+654) by 1 & 2

GBR 1 TUR 2
Johanna Konta WR 145 lost to Ipek Soylu (TUR) WR 307 (CH 302 in Dec; 18yo, junior CH 13 in 2014) by 6-3 7-6(6)
Heather Watson WR 38 lost to Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) WR 117 (= CH) by 6-2 3-6 7-5
Jocelyn Rae/Anna Smith CR 192 (96+96) beat Basak Eraydin/Pemra Ozgen (TUR) CR 773 (461+312) by 2 & 1

GBR 3 UKR 0
Johanna Konta WR 145 beat Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) WR 92 (CH 60 in 2013) by 3 & 2
Heather Watson WR 38 beat Elina Svitolina (UKR) WR 26 (= CH) by 2-6 7-5 6-4
Jocelyn Rae/Anna Smith CR 192 (96+96) beat Olga Savchuk/Elina Svitolina (UKR) CR 185 (57+128) by 6-7(6) 7-5 6-4

GBR 0 BLR 2
Johanna Konta WR 145 lost to Olga Govortsova (BLR) WR 156 (CH 35 in 2008) by 0 & 1
Heather Watson WR 38 lost to Viktoria Azarenka (BLR) WR 49 (CH 1 in 2012) by 4 & 1

The last bleh (purely on current rankings) is a bit misleading, obviously. They don't usually play the doubles on the final day if the tie is already decided.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

indiana wrote:
Ah pity, Belarus too good.

But girls, thank you for yesterday !

Seconded

Jan · Hall of fame

vohor wrote:
indiana wrote:
Ah pity, Belarus too good.

But girls, thank you for yesterday !
Seconded

Thirded

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

A bit of an anticlimax today after the highs and lows of the last two days. It's certainly been entertaining though, and today shows how hard it is to get out of the group.

Joss and Anna definitely the star performers of the week.

steven · Tennis legend

The loss to Turkey could yet hurt GB next year by affecting our seeding, though it's pointless trying to guess where we are likely to be seeded next year until at least this weekend's World Group II ties have been played. Not that being seeded 2 was a huge help this year, with UKR, BLR and an apparently fast-improving TUR to get past!

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Thing is, Fed Cup ties are usually won by the 2nd players and by the dubs. If top 50 players are involved, the top match usually (although clearly not always) goes the way of the form book and it's just the luck of the draw. The standard of women players below the top 50 is far more variable at any given ranking point and so that is the match really up for grabs. Few countries have devoted women's dubs pairings and so that is also a match that can often be snatched.

I didn't see any of the Ukraine match but I cannot believe the score line unless Jo was tight. In which case she knew the match would rest on her shoulders and could not cope with it. Not sure what the solution is to Jo's nerves in matches but I really wish someone could help her in that regard. She played so freely when she was an up and comer with no expectations upon her. Maybe she will relax if the Katys/ies and Naomi C get up to her level so that she feels out of the spotlight again?

scottie1 · Futures level

watched a video of Judy Murray on twitter said Joko was not playing well today. To be honest her form has not been great over last six months time for Broady Dunne or Moore to make a charge up the rankings

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

Broady and Moore won't go any higher. Naomi has hit her peak Tara likewise and I don't think Katy is ready yet another full year or two until she gets to the top 150 and above ability required. Laura when fit will be back and make them stronger .

Kounosuke · Intermediate Club Player

The Top 25 Women's table has GBR beating LUX 3-0, when they actually beat LIE 3-0. It's correct everywhere else.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I think it's going to be Laura, Naomi C, Katie and Katy who will likely be pushing Johanna out of the team. We will be a strong team with Laura, Hev. Joss and Anna. Will be great to have a fair few top 150 players as back up too

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Yep, if Laura can get back near her best then this time next year with her and Heather for singles plus Joss & Anna for dubs we'll have a very good shot at world group status. Here's hoping :)

Peter too · Tennis legend

I wonder if Anna and Joss will start touring again now. They had a three month break between the Poitiers $100K in Oct and the Sunderland $10K and their Federation Cup run. It would be good to see just how far they can climb the doubles rankings. They said their last Federation cup win was played at a higher level than they were used to so it suggests they could go higher. A top 50 doubles pairing alongside two top 50 singles players would be a good lineup for next year's Fed Cup.

indiana · Tennis legend

Was impressive from Joss and Anna after such a break prior to that 10K. I don't know if one or other had had problems or if a good long break was planned with both having slightly fragile bodies.

All being well, I imagine they'll be traveling again to bigger tournaments trying to push up their ranking, having already stated that they wanted top 75 and Slam direct entry asap.

Interesting how this will play out going forward. We have traditionally gone for 3 singles players and no more than one specialist doubles player in the team of 4, and as discussed for a qualifying week having just two main singles players can leave you exposed to such as injury.

For this week, the seeming current real gap after Jo made more sense for both Jo and Anna playing ( any third singles player looked likely to have a tough job if called upon ). But if we again have 3 relatively strong singles players with such as Heather and Laura well able to play doubles, it will be interesting to see how we go.

Certainly before this week, I saw no big call for Joss and Anna both to be fixures. I guess the onus is to an extent on them to improve and improve to make as strong an ongoing case as possible. Certainly did themselves no harm this week.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Anna and Joss are heading to the South American clay courts to do some damage. Will report a few eye witness thoughts when I get back home tomorrow.