By Chris Oddo | Friday November 9, 2018
On paper, it’s a blowout.
But Fed Cup finals aren’t played on paper, and the American Fed Cup team, despite being heavy underdogs this weekend in Prague against the juggernaut Czechs, isn’t about to lose this final in the locker room.
Update: Petra Kvitova Ruled out for Saturday Due to Illness
“Are we the favorites on paper? No, but I think we can do it and our captain believes in us,” said Nicole Melichar of Team U.S.A.
Melichar, who played the final at Wimbledon with Kveta Pesche, will be joined by Danielle Collins, Alison Riske and Sofia Kenin on an American squad that will be without the likes of Sloane Stephens, the Williams sisters, Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
It's a disappointing for many fans, who eagerly marked their calendars months ago when these two teams reached the final with their star-studded lineups, but tennis in November can be rough that way.
Melichar and Co. aren’t going to let the palpable disappointment of the tennis community, or the fact that most pundits see the Americans as having zero chance of winning, get them down.
“These are unbelievable girls,” Melichar said in a pre-draw press conference. “We have the youngest player in the Top 50 (Kenin). She’s had an unbelievable year. Danielle, her ranking speaks for itself. Ali, so many tournaments won. We have a great team, regardless of what social media says and what it says on paper. We’re going to go out and we’re going to fight.”
It’s the right approach to take into a Herculean task, even admirable; but make no mistake about it—the Czechs are loaded and dangerous, as usual.
Even without Karolina Pliskova, who pulled out late due to injury (see: tennis in November), the Czechs boast two-time Slam champion and indoor queen Petra Kvitova, the savvy and talented Barbora Strycova, as well as the world’s No.1 double team of Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova.
The Americans may be the defending Fed Cup champions, but they are fielding a team that is nothing like the one that won the title last year in Belarus. Riske is the only player that has any Fed Cup experience—amounting to a mere two matches—and for those scoring at home the Czechs have won five of the last seven Fed Cup titles.
They are a sure bet to make it six of eight, but Czech Captain Petr Pala knows that the transition from paper to hardcourt takes preparation and humility, no matter how heavy the underdog one is about to face.
He knows his team needs to be focused and ready to get the job done.
“I think for some of [the American players] it’s their first Fed Cup tie, which I think it’s great to play in the Finals,” Pala said. “Very dangerous team. Great players. Young players. They’re already ranked very high for their age, and all are improved since last year, improved very much, especially on the ranking, and they beat great players. Top-10 players. So we have to be really careful with the U.S. team.”
In the end what could have been a dream final between two powerhouses, has become more of a cautionary tale about what tennis can look like in mid-November, when many top players have already shut their seasons down due to injury or to ensure proper rest against of a rapidly approaching 2019. That's the case with Sloane Stephens, who finished up a great year by reaching the Fed Cup finals. It's also the case with the Williams sisters, who are each in their late 30's, and Madison Keys, who injured her knee in Zhuhai.
But the absence of American stars has created a great opportunity for an American team that, win or lose, will surely benefit from the experience. If anybody is curious to know what these four largely unheralded Americans are made of, we suggest you tune into this weekend’s Fed Cup final to find out.
You just might be surprised.
There’s a reason they play the matches and don’t just write the stories in advance, after all.
“We have Petra and the No. 1 in doubles,” said Pala. “So we’re not going to hide it that we’re favorites. We are favorites. But just a little bit, and it’s just only on paper, so you have to win it on the court.”