Fed Cup 2018 - Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 - Tallinn, Estonia (7-11 Feb)

SuperT · Futures qualifying

RE: Fed Cup 2018 - Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 - Tallinn, Estonia (7-11 Feb)

Michael D · All-time great

SuperT wrote:
indiana wrote:
Was interested to see ( well hear ) how Katie did. Tournament wise she doesn't really 'do' doubles these says, not having played doubles since with Katie Swan two wins in the Manchester 100K and a R1 WC Wimbledon exit contributed 35* of her current 38 points for WR 737 ( CH 473 ).

I imagine it might be difficult to play her in a tough and / or meaningful doubles match at the moment. If the Estonia match is one all after the singles, I guess a judgement would then need to be made, or they might even want to give another pair a run out in case needed on Saturday. But where she can get experience within the play-off qualification goal, good.
* only got R1 win Manchester points since they withdrew from their SF,
As I'm still recovering from flu I have lots of time to watch tennis, so I saw the whole match and Katie looked really comfortable throughout. I've not seen her play for a couple of years and was impressed by how much more powerful her serve and ground strokes are now. She also showed great reactions and skill at the net. I was also very impressed by Anna's clever play (I've seen very little of her too) and the partnership just seemed to work. Of course you can't tell what would happen against tougher opposition, but I see no reason why they shouldn't be very successful.

I think that they were both fresh and rearing to go, highly motivated, helped a great deal too. Katie B hasn't played Fed Cup before, and Anna not for a while, so it's great for them both. I would not switch either of them against Estonia. For Annie K to have a fresh pair like this to call upon in potentially tougher matches later might be a real trump card, particular if at least one opponent comes in off a tough singles match. I think for their own motivation that it is important Anne continues to show confidence in them, especially if they played so well together today. I wouldn't play Heather in the doubles, whose own confidence can be much more up and down, and I don't think bringing Jo in shows good signals for anyone really. I think its fantastic for the team they could all come to the table today.

To switch to the men for a while, I doubt if it is a coincidence that having been substituted out so often for Andy Murray in Davis Cup doubles, that it is no accident than when he is periodically called upon, almost as a last resort, that Dom Inglot has struggled to perform in the men's DC doubles. I mean if there is one person that Leon Smith has not exactly been given a large vote of confidence by Leon Smith over the years it is Dom - even though one of his first matches, if I recall, was a very close 5 set loss to the Bryan brothers, with Jamie. That was a great performance, but I don't think he played in the doubles again for about another year. I'm sure its had an effect on him.

indiana · Tennis legend

I guess it's a balancing act, not easy this captaincy business.

I'm generally very much for the here and now and pragmatism to get the job done and I think Leon probably earns a lot of respect from the players that he seems so that way orientated. Apart from their own professional pride and wanting to do well, players I think will play for someone that they feel will give them a fair shot again, not just for what they do now ( important ) but how they are generally performing the next time ( important ). You did it before, taken into account, but are you the best option this time. Personally, I like that, though understand some are more for giving more weighted consideration to what a player may have done before and how they might feel.

The balancing to me would just be is an action likely to come back and bite you if you unnecessarily 'drop' a player and then that might effect how they play when you really need them. That's to an extent knowing your players as best you can and it would not be "unnecessarily" if the original match was in such balance that to the captain a choice had to be made. And I think that the Murray brothers doubles choice, has certainly made sense on some important occasions without going back looking at every time. When you win the Davis Cup final with Andy playing doubles and Dom not in the then 4 man team ( 5 men would have had him more likely in the team but I doubt he would have played ) that is one time very difficult to argue against however Dom may have played before. If fit and not unnecessarily impacting his singles, Andy is simply the better doubles option.

So, keeping as it is, yes, building confidence and experience, where that it is in the interests of the team. If not, sorry but ...

Re keeping Anna and Katie together I can see team interests such as freshness and the experience it is giving Katie, but I would not "show confidence in them" if it is thought that in the here and now it makes the team less likely to make the play-offs, which is absolutely #1 goal and why all are in Estonia. And if push came to shove it would surprise me if Katie was a better straight doubles option than either Jo or Heather even after singles. But if the judgment is that Anna and Katie will almost certainly get the job done anyway then the other incalculable benefits of sticking with both come into play, that balance. And they certainly got the job well and truly done against the Portuguese pair.

Over to you Anne. I don't know, I didn't even see it or am up enough on future opposition

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Michael D wrote:
SuperT wrote:
I think that they were both fresh and rearing to go, highly motivated, helped a great deal too. Katie B hasn't played Fed Cup before, and Anna not for a while, so it's great for them both. I would not switch either of them against Estonia. For Annie K to have a fresh pair like this to call upon in potentially tougher matches later might be a real trump card, particular if at least one opponent comes in off a tough singles match. I think for their own motivation that it is important Anne continues to show confidence in them, especially if they played so well together today. I wouldn't play Heather in the doubles, whose own confidence can be much more up and down, and I don't think bringing Jo in shows good signals for anyone really. I think its fantastic for the team they could all come to the table today.
To switch to the men for a while, I doubt if it is a coincidence that having been substituted out so often for Andy Murray in Davis Cup doubles, that it is no accident than when he is periodically called upon, almost as a last resort, that Dom Inglot has struggled to perform in the men's DC doubles. I mean if there is one person that Leon Smith has not exactly been given a large vote of confidence by Leon Smith over the years it is Dom - even though one of his first matches, if I recall, was a very close 5 set loss to the Bryan brothers, with Jamie. That was a great performance, but I don't think he played in the doubles again for about another year. I'm sure its had an effect on him.

I think that this is a good point. I felt really sorry for Dom, it must have been hard to play that well in the US tie and still get guzzumped. It must have been really hard as the press were after him as well, so he had to say the 'right' thing on camera,let alone taking the time out of his schedule for his country. The poor guy must have felt like he was under sooo much pressure to prove himself last Saturday, I'm not surprised he didn't.

I hope this doesn't happen with the girls. I seem to recall that it did last year, but I can't remember who played the doubles initially. We've seen the stats that having a good doubles pair is key (e.g.Bryans) to winning, so I hope Annie builds their confidence so they have the best chance possible.

JonH · All-time great

blob wrote:
6-0 6-2
3 Rubbers to 0

Good efficient work all round - the other afternoon matches haven't even begun their doubles rubbers yet.

On to the next one, Estonia on Friday, and a hopeful repeat of today. With Kontaveitt, that's not likely.
Edit: Friday, not Thursday

-- Edited by blob on Wednesday 7th of February 2018 06:04:25 PM

Portugal won the first rubber against Estonia, although Kontaveit is winning the second rubber 1 set up. Will come down to doubles - presume Estonia will win that but at least the GB team can be confident they have a stronger #2, and should feel confident to win one of the #1 singles or doubles as well

Michael D · All-time great

Looking at that Estonia vs Portugal match you have to feel somewhat sorry for both captains! Estonia are fielding two unranked youngsters - one who lost the first singles, and another playing with Kontaveit in the doubles. As for Portugal, they did try and field a higher ranked player against Kontaveit - Ines Murta WR528, but she retired near the start of the second set so was obviously not fit.

In the doubles it is the same pair that played Katie B and Anna yesterday. The first break is to Portugal 5th game, so this match is not at all a given.

Sim · County player

Estonia win the doubles, and hence the tie 7-6 (0) 7-6 (6)

Michael D · All-time great

Anett with just enough help from her 16 yr old compatriot scraped the doubles 7-6(0) 7-6(6). Four breaks apiece, though Estonia actually outscored Portugal 90-75. Still, we'd have to be extremely poor not to gain a result here tomorrow...

-- Edited by Michael D on Thursday 8th of February 2018 07:00:33 PM

blob · All-time great

Estonia came through in the doubles. Because Kontaveit won by RET in the singles in under 40 minutes, her having to play a full doubles rubber is very unlikely to have caused any fatigue - she played 2h 23m in total.
The lowly ranked Portuguese duo did take Estonia to two TB, and Estonia have no back up. So, as mentioned above, if we can win at least 1/2 singles, we'd hope whichever two players make up our doubles, they'd have every chance.

Michael D · All-time great

blob wrote:
Estonia came through in the doubles. Because Kontaveit won by RET in the singles in under 40 minutes, her having to play a full doubles rubber is very unlikely to have caused any fatigue - she played 2h 23m in total.
The lowly ranked Portuguese duo did take Estonia to two TB, and Estonia have no back up. So, as mentioned above, if we can win at least 1/2 singles, we'd hope whichever two players make up our doubles, they'd have every chance.

Well, I don't think Jo will be looking at it going to the doubles. She will be very disappointed if it does.... But it may indeed be a good match!

-- Edited by Michael D on Thursday 8th of February 2018 07:03:41 PM

markymc1983 · Club Coach

It's been reported that Kaia Kanepi requested 100,000 to play with the Estonian Fed Cup team this year, and when she was refused pulled out sick. I don't know if there is any previous bad blood there but certainly doesn't seem in the spirit of the competition. I always thought players played for free at the Fed Cup??

-- Edited by markymc1983 on Friday 9th of February 2018 12:33:13 AM

the addict · Tennis legend

She's refused to play before as well - 2012. It doesn't fit into my plans now because I'm playing in Paris, which is indoors. The Fed Cup in Israel is outdoors, and it ends one day before Paris starts, Kanepi told ERR radio. The most important thing right now is singles games and individual tournaments. I have played in the Fed Cup quite a lot. Let the younger [athletes] get some experience too, she said.

Must be something going on behind the scenes.

JonH · All-time great

Serbia and Latvia are both qualified for the semis from their respective groups and will play each other tomorrow.

Jan · Hall of fame

Good luck team - I'm out for a chunk of the afternoon, so hope it's good news on my return!

markymc1983 · Club Coach

Will the matches be streamed anywhere?