- Moderator
- #1
So, this is this week. Australia play a strong(ish) US line up in the good old North Carolina.
Teams are as follows.
USA
No. 17 Madison Keys,
No. 23 Danielle Collins,
No. 36 Sofia Kenin
doubles No. 13 Nicole Melichar
Australia
No. 14 and doubles No. 6 Ashleigh Barty,
No. 46 Daria Gavrilova,
No. 142 Priscilla Hon,
No. 157 Kimberley Birrell
No. 160 Astra Sharma
So basically it is Barty(plus doubles partner) v the USA. She will have to win all 3 matches you would think. Very tough. We "miss" ana Tomljanovic as a capable 2nd player who could upset someone on her day. Would like to see Birrell play in front of Dasha for the 2nd singles tie, with Dasha lack of form.
Other matches
World Group 1.
Romania with Halep v Czechs with Pliskova.
2 very strong teams beyond those 2 players. (Buzarnescu, Begu, Bogdan and Niculescu v Siniakova, Vondrousova and Krejcikova)
Germany v Belarus.
Germany has no one really good now(etc no Kerber or Goerges)
Belarus named Azarenka, Sabelenka, Sasnovich and Lapko. So, only 1 winner here.
France v Belgium.
Garcia named for France, for time since her fight with Kiki and others. Kiki also in the team.
Belgium has their strongest team as well, with Mertens leading the line.
World Group 2
Latvia v Slovakia (all big names are named in the tie, including Schmieds)
Swiss v Italy (Bencic and Giorgi(!!!!!!!) are named. Giorgi first tie in years)
Japan v Spain(No Muguruza, No Osaka)
Netherlands v Canada(No Bouchard, so that is good for Canada. No current big names in either team)
In the regional playoff games
Two Top 20 players play Zone Group ties: No.14 Daria Kasatkina and No. 20 Anett Kontaveit.
Monica Puig will beat up on American nations.
The Brits hope to win its first home tie in 26 years.
All up, 9 of the top 20 players will be playing in the first round of Fed Cup. Not a bad number. I reckon a lot of it has to do with the Olympics. Players are running out of chances to qualify for that. 1 player who could miss, after skipping this round of ties, is Wozniacki. She will need a special wild card as she won't have played the required amount of Fed Cup ties for Denmark. perhaps, a little part of me hopes it is because the Girls don't want the Fed Cup to change as the Davis Cup has. But I don't that.
Teams are as follows.
USA
No. 17 Madison Keys,
No. 23 Danielle Collins,
No. 36 Sofia Kenin
doubles No. 13 Nicole Melichar
Australia
No. 14 and doubles No. 6 Ashleigh Barty,
No. 46 Daria Gavrilova,
No. 142 Priscilla Hon,
No. 157 Kimberley Birrell
No. 160 Astra Sharma
So basically it is Barty(plus doubles partner) v the USA. She will have to win all 3 matches you would think. Very tough. We "miss" ana Tomljanovic as a capable 2nd player who could upset someone on her day. Would like to see Birrell play in front of Dasha for the 2nd singles tie, with Dasha lack of form.
Other matches
World Group 1.
Romania with Halep v Czechs with Pliskova.
2 very strong teams beyond those 2 players. (Buzarnescu, Begu, Bogdan and Niculescu v Siniakova, Vondrousova and Krejcikova)
Germany v Belarus.
Germany has no one really good now(etc no Kerber or Goerges)
Belarus named Azarenka, Sabelenka, Sasnovich and Lapko. So, only 1 winner here.
France v Belgium.
Garcia named for France, for time since her fight with Kiki and others. Kiki also in the team.
Belgium has their strongest team as well, with Mertens leading the line.
World Group 2
Latvia v Slovakia (all big names are named in the tie, including Schmieds)
Swiss v Italy (Bencic and Giorgi(!!!!!!!) are named. Giorgi first tie in years)
Japan v Spain(No Muguruza, No Osaka)
Netherlands v Canada(No Bouchard, so that is good for Canada. No current big names in either team)
In the regional playoff games
Two Top 20 players play Zone Group ties: No.14 Daria Kasatkina and No. 20 Anett Kontaveit.
Monica Puig will beat up on American nations.
The Brits hope to win its first home tie in 26 years.
All up, 9 of the top 20 players will be playing in the first round of Fed Cup. Not a bad number. I reckon a lot of it has to do with the Olympics. Players are running out of chances to qualify for that. 1 player who could miss, after skipping this round of ties, is Wozniacki. She will need a special wild card as she won't have played the required amount of Fed Cup ties for Denmark. perhaps, a little part of me hopes it is because the Girls don't want the Fed Cup to change as the Davis Cup has. But I don't that.