The Czech Republic has named three top 20 players in their team for the upcoming Fed Cup final against Russia next month.
Team captain Petr Pala has announced that world No.5 Petra Kvitova will headline the team. Joining Kvitova will be Lucie Safarova, Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova. World No.64 Denisa Allertová has also been named in the squad as a back up.
The Czech Republic are the defending champions and will be bidding to win their 9th title since 1975. They played Russia in the final of the competition in 2011. On that occasion the Czech team won 3-2.
The Czech team will encounter a tough battle against the Russians, which will be lead by Maria Sharapova. Russian captain Anastasia Myskina announced her team last month which also include Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ekaterina Makarova.
In recent months Russian players have been troubled with injuries. Sharapova has been troubled by a shoulder injury and Makarova withdrew from the China Open due to a leg injury. Despite the injury setbacks for the Russian team, the Czech captain is still aware of how dangerous they will be in the final.
“Russia is a strong team, one of the strongest.” Pala told idnes.cz.
Since 2004 only three countries have won the Fed Cup title, The Czech Republic (2011,2012 and 2014), Russia (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008) and Italy (2006, 2009,2010 and 2013).
The final will take place between November 14-15 at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The two nations have played each other five times in the competition, with the Czech Republic leading the head-to-head 3-2.
