By Chris Oddo | Friday, April 17, 2015
Fed Cup juggernaut Czech Republic is bidding for it's fourth title in five years. Can a visiting French team stand in their way?
It promises to be another wild weekend of Fed Cup all across the globe (wave your flags in the air like you just don’t care!) with four nations bidding for a spot in this year’s final and another eight looking to rejoin the World Group for 2016. Here’s a breakdown of the World Group and World Group playoffs:
World Group Semis:
France at Czech Republic:
The French, led by mother-to-be and captain Amelie Mauresmo will travel to Ostrava to take on the vaunted Czechs on their home soil. The Czechs are defending champions and have won three of the last four Fed Cups. More important, they’ve got their ace back in the fold, as Petra Kvitova will return to play her first competitive tennis since taking a leave of absence due to exhaustion before Indian Wells.
With Kvitova and fellow southpaw Lucie Safarova leading the way, this promises to be a very different task for Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, but the French play with fire and seem to bring out their best for Fed Cup. If Kvitova is rusty or Safarova isn’t finding her "A" game, this tie could quickly go from a sure thing for the Czechs to a dogfight.
Germany at Russia:
Surprisingly the draw has revealed that Germany has left its top two singles players out of action. Rather than Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber, German captain Barbara Rittner has elected to go with Sabine Lisicki and Julia Goerges to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Svetlana Kuznetsova on Day 1 in Sochi, Russia.
It seemed like the Russian squad might be doomed when Maria Sharapova was forced to pull out due to injury, but based on this draw, the tie could go down to the wire. Will Rittner regret her decision or are Lisicki and/or Goerges ready to step up and deliver a Fed Cup final for Germany?
One thing is for certain: Either Germany or Russia will be in the Fed Cup final for the fourth time in the last five years.
World Group Playoffs:
Italy v USA
Serena Williams will try to lead America back to the World Group, but without her sister Venus in Brindisi, a lot will depend on whether or not Lauren Davis can step up and contribute with a win. Otherwise, it will come down to doubles, and even without Roberta Vinci, the Italians are always tough on the dubs court.
Australia v Netherlands
Have to like the experience of the Aussies, led by Sam Stosur and featuring three Top 50 players against a Netherlands side that is led by No. 86 Kiki Bertens.
Poland v Switzerland
Surprise, surprise! Martina Hingis, supposedly picked to help out if the need for doubles arose, has been drawn to face Agnieszka Radwanska in the first rubber on Saturday. It’s difficult to say what Hingis will be able to do on the singles court, but given the lackluster year that Radwanska is having, she could certainly come away with the win.
Canada v Romania
Without Simona Halep, Canada will be the favorite at home thanks to the participation—in doubt for a while—of Eugenie Bouchard. But Bouchard has struggled so mightily this year it wouldn’t be surprising to see her have her difficulties. This one could get interesting fast if Bouchard is out of sync.