ROSAMUND wrote:

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Ace Ventura wrote:

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One of few nations without a top player. Kuzmova has stalled since that RG hammering by Jo. Schmeidlova looks like she has had surgery and is out for a while. Cibulkova not played for ages, and Rybarikova is now outside the top 150. A lot can change in 6 months, but that's not a bad draw, relatively anyway.

They have won their last two ties at home - Russia in Feb 2018 on hard, and Brazil in April 2019 on clay, so could be on either of those. Konta obviously did well this year, but I think I'd choose clay if I was them and it was available.

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 Maybe, but it won't be a young British player breaking through what we can really do with. Our current top 2 are still Jo and Heather who were our top 2 in 2014. I accept things might have been different if Katie Boulter  had stayed fit. 

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Oh yes, I have my opinion of where we stand and can't see much changing there in 6th months, it was purely from a Slovakian perspective. I'd say they have more realistic options, but a lot will depend where they are in February - will AKS be ready? Will Domi be playing again or might she actually be retired / possibly pregnant by then (over 30, married 3 years etc), will Rybarikova be back anywhere near the top 100, will Kuzmova be looking again like that young player who might threaten the slam seeding etc.

We're reliant a lot on Jo IMO, but if we played next week I'd think the likes of Jo, Harriet, Heather could probably get the better of them, but they have that pool of 4 normally top 100 players and a lot will depend on how they are doing as to who will go into the tie as the favourites. 

A lot of the other unseeded nations had one top player - Bertens, Osaka, Andreescu, Sevastova, which Slovakia don't really have, so Jo would really need to win both of her single matches to give us hope.

 

Ace mentioned four Slovak players - there are another three inside the top 200, all of whom have got through QR1 at the USO. Even without the top players, the match-up will be close.

the addict wrote:

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Ace mentioned four Slovak players - there are another three inside the top 200, all of whom have got through QR1 at the USO. Even without the top players, the match-up will be close.

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 Well that's more than double what we've got then. Perhaps the fortunes of some of our injured players will improve in the next 6 months. 

JonH comes home wrote:

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Not analysing this too much, right now this would appear to be very tough and probably a losing match up for GB. Maybe by Feb we can turn form around, but then we would face clay in Budapest if we won, somehow.

If we lose, what happens then - is there a relegation play off format taking place?

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If we lose to Slovakia then we go back to the equivalent of Bath in 2021 and the Euro zone. Also if we do manage to beat Slovakia and make the Finals in Hungary, finishing the campaign 11th or 12th would also see us relegated to the Euro zone, while finishing 3-10 will give us another shot of these Slovakia type one off play off matches.

I still think on paper Slovakia is as favourable of any of the other 7, bar Brazil, even Kazakhstan would been a far tougher prospect this time IMO, but given the current landscape, most ties would be tough.

I'll be in the minority on this forum I'd imagine, but I'm quite excited about the changes, and will be looking forward to the April event even if GB don't make it.

Michael D wrote:

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What's exciting you about the changes Ace? I certainly fall in the unenthused category, so am interested in what you see as the attractions of the change.

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A few things Michael. We'll obviously have to see how it goes - if the likes of Osaka or Bertens suddenly pull out and then dominate Stuttgart the week later, then it won't be ideal, but I do think it has a lot of potential.

To be honest, I was never really a fan of the current format - February to the end of October is a very long time for an on off competition to run, and while we would have more idea, I think it was pretty confusing for an occasional viewer, losing a WG1 playoff, then having a WG2 playoff to get back to a WG1 playoff the following year, and unless you were one of the 4 semi finalists, no real clear and obvious path as to what you're actually doing, whereas here it looks simpler - a one off playoff to get into a week long competion a couple of months later which should hopefully be a bit like a football World Cup.

I just think IF everyone turns up (or the vast majority), and they really should as it is in Europe, on clay, in the middle of the European clay season, big prize money, a kind of week long festival of tennis - it's something I've wanted for a while. I feared it would be in China like where most other big women's tennis events are heading, where we'd have to wake up to find out results (like what we are doing with Sam this week), so to be in Europe is another big boost to me. A lot of big players have missed their countries ties recently - Osaka seems to have missed every tie bar that one that cost us, Bertens missed Netherlands last tie and they lost badly and were relegated (but then got a repreive with Czech getting the WC), but although Halep criticised the changes, I genuinely think there is more chance of getting the vast majority of top players to play, which is needed - time will tell on that though.

I eventually hope that the men will do away with one of their new team events they have created and eventually it will transition into one mixed team event, but with the men getting 2 new team competitions, even though there have been critics there (a lot of them), from a women's tennis perspective, it kind of felt to me they were getting left behind with these new male innovations, so I'm quite pleased from that perspective as well (but then again, minority, I wasn't a huge original Davis Cup fan either).

I appreciate it obviously won't be for everyone - but more structure, less strung out, and hopefully TV companies will pick it up - which has been a problem for the DC and FC as often the only chance to watch overseas ties is via a £5 DC / FC ITF subscription or betting sites, including the actual final, so I think broadcasters will be more likely to pick up the rights if it's a one off big event. Obviously a lot of assumptions and ideal scenarios here, and it may well turn out to be a disaster, but I do hope and think it will eventually become one of the few events outside of the slams, like Indian Wells and the WTA finals, that really stand out on the calendar. I hope so anyway.

 

Ace Ventura wrote:

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I know Annie K was quite keen on changes, in line with the men, which kind of goes back to the point about making sure the women are not being left behind and potentially being seen as the poor, irrelevant relations, even if a lot were against the DC changes:

twitter.com/annekeothavong/status/968136786613448709

She also retweeted their 'Fed Cup reimagined' post on June 27th when it was confirmed, and has often had positive comments when chatting to Chris Bradnam about it when covering WTA events on BT Sport, so because I like her, if she is happy with the changes, especially with it being a huge part of her role, then that does sit well with me too.

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Ok thanks Ace. Well, some change probably was needed. We'll see soon whether this works out any better I guess. 

Yeah, I read someone mentioning that on Twitter about the old format being similar back in the day, but to be fair, we are talking nearly 30 years and the vast majority of players involved wouldn't have even been born then (just for a bit of perspective).

Hungary hosting isn't totally ideal because it means that Hungary will likely be involved for the 3 years they are hosting, and as GB have put them out in the Euro zone the past 2 years, and have no top player as such (or even a current top 100 player) they'll likely struggle - I'd have rather Prague hosted it in the same venue where they had the Laver Cup the other year, especially as the Czech's have so many great players (so should be there every year) and FC history, but only get to host WTA Prague, where the field is often affected by Madrid the following week, but if the money is coming from Hungary, then it is what it is, and from my POV, the host could have been far worse.

It looks like the stadium is set up for between 9,500 and 12,500 for indoor sporting events, but Hungary also only currently host a solitary WTA international event which usually just attracts 50-100 European players like Van Uytvanck, so if players like Osaka, Andreescu, Barty etc. commit (if their country's get there) then you'd hope a fair few fans would turn up, especially as it might just be for 3 years, so not something to be taken for granted. It obviously needs a good batch of big name players competing, but I do like the idea of a (potentially) new big event on the calendar, and I hope it's a success. I do appreciate that some are against the changes though.