TENNIS FED CUP – Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova will lead their respective nations’ hopes in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final on 8-9 November 2014 in Prague.
Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova will lead their respective nations’ hopes in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final on 8-9 November 2014 in Prague, being played at the O2 Arena. The surface is hard court (Novacrylic Ultracushion System) and the balls are Wilson Tour Davis Cup (Thailand). The stadium capacity is 10850.
World No. 10 Kerber leads Barbara Rittner’s side into their first Fed Cup Final since 1992 at the venue, with No. 14 Andrea Petkovic, No. 27 Sabine Lisicki and No. 75 Julia Goerges completing a German line-up bursting with singles talent.
Germany makes one change from the team that assured its place in the Final by defeating Australia 3-1 in the World Group semifinals in Brisbane in April, with Sabine Lisicki coming in for doubles specialist Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Czech Republic, meanwhile, will once again place its faith in Petra Kvitova ahead of its third Fed Cup Final in four years, with the world No. 4 supported by No. 17 Lucie Safarova. The Czechs have also handed a debut nomination to 22-year-old Karolina Pliskova with doubles world No. 22 Lucie Hradecka completing the line-up.
Pliskova has rocketed up the rankings this year, finding herself at a career-high No. 24 in the WTA ladder after winning her second and third career titles in Seoul and Linz in the last two months. While Pliskova has undoubtedly earned her call up on the biggest stage, Kvitova has been a driving force in the Czech team in recent years. She has won three of the four singles rubbers she has contested in Fed Cup Finals to help Petr Pala’s team to the 2011 and 2012 titles, and could well prove the decisive influence again in this year’s Final.
A closely contested Final, or so it appears on paper, should be further complicated by the head-to-head record between Czech Republic and Germany’s leading ladies. Lefthanders Kvitova and Kerber have met five times, and though Kvitova shades their previous meetings 3-2, four of those clashes have gone to three sets including Kvitova’s most recent wins over Kerber at both Tokyo and the WTA Championships in 2013.
Indeed, the two players most likely to take the No. 2 spot for their nations could be set for a similarly fierce contest. Petkovic has won four of her six meetings with lefthander Safarova but the Czech won their last clash on a hard court in a thrilling three sets in Beijing in 2013.
Just one spot separates the two 27-year-olds in the rankings, and both enter the Final on good form. World No. 17 Safarova reached the semifinals in Moscow last month, while Petkovic rebounded from first round losses in Linz and Luxembourg in October to win the WTA Tournament of Champions crown in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday.
That said, with two hungry players prepared to step into the second singles spot in Goerges and Lisicki who will be both looking to improve their Fed Cup singles records (4-5 and 5-5, respectively), captain Rittner certainly has options. Should the tie live up to expectations and come down to a deciding doubles, the Czechs can call upon 29-year-old Lucie Hradecka, who has lost just one of her previous five Fed Cup doubles rubbers.
The Czechs, seven time Fed Cup champions, have dominated this match-up in previous years, winning six of the seven encounters between the two nations.
The full team nominations for the Fed Cup Final are:
Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Safarova
Karolina Pliskova
Lucie Hradecka
Germany
Angelique Kerber
Andrea Petkovic
Sabine Lisicki
Julia Goerges
Germany, is bidding to record a third Fed Cup triumph, 22 years after last reigning supreme in the competition in 1992.
Especially Andrea Petkovic impressed one week before the Fed Cup Final as she claimed the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia after a hard-fought 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in the final against the Italian Flavia Pennetta. Winning the fifth title in her career might be a perfect dress rehearsal for Petko as she will travel highly confident to Prague where she and Porsche Team Germany will do battle for the Fed Cup crown – much to the pleasure of Barbara Rittner. “She’s got herself out of a sticky patch,” said the Porsche Team Germany captain when talking about Andrea Petkovic’s success. The 27-year old is certain to be the German No. 2 singles player alongside Angelique Kerber. “Her form and self-confidence have come at just the right moment for Prague.”
