Fed Cup Favorite Italy is Trying to Avoid Overconfidence for the Finals

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 3rd November 2010

Fed Cup Favorite Italy is Trying to Avoid Overconfidence for the Finals

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) |

Italy begins this weekend’s Fed Cup final in San Diego as defending champions and clear favorites over a depleted United States team but captain Corrado Barazzutti insists his team, spearheaded by French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta, one half of the world’s top doubles partnership, is wary of complacency.

Current WTA rankings would suggest Italy is set for a repeat of last year’s whitewash final win against the U.S. in Reggio Calabria and Barazzutti’s side is shooting for their third title in five years. The Italians scored emphatic victories over the Ukraine (4-1) and Czech Republic (5-0) en route to the 8,850 capacity San Diego Sports Arena.

“We’ll start as favorites but we can’t get distracted, away matches are always hazardous and our opponents have recently shown they can beat higher-ranked players,” said Barazzutti who has picked the same team as last year, with Schiavone and Pennetta jetting in from the WTA Championships in Doha to join and the expected doubles pairing of Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.

With both Williams sisters once again absent as they recover from minor surgery American captain Mary Joe Fernandez has opted against Vania King who was with Schiavone and Pennetta in Doha last week and selected Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek Sands, Liezel Huber and debutant Coco Vandeweghe.

American debutante Vandeweghe is ranked 115 in the world, around 100 places lower than Schiavone and Pennetta but Captain Fernandez maintains the 18-year-old’s armory of a powerful serve, heavy ground strokes and slice provide “a different sort of game.”

King’s omission was a surprise to Barazzutti. “I expected her to be called up because she’s shown this year that she’s a top doubles player,” said the Italian captain who has been in the job for nearly nine years and will be experiencing his fifth final in charge.

“Obviously Fernandez will go for Huber-Mattek in the doubles and she’s chosen to bring another singles player in the young Vandeweghe. She’s an interesting young player who’s shown herself on the WTA circuit this year. I think it’s the right thing to give her this experience, she could be the future of the American team.”

Fernandez conceded the obvious in saying: “We’re definitely underdogs. Italy’s whole team has experience with Schiavone, winning the French Open while playing the best tennis of her career. Even though Pennetta’s ranking has dropped a bit, she knows how to win matches and has got an all-court game. Vinci and Errani are tough as well. They really complement each other.”

Topics: American Captain, Bethanie Mattek, Coco Vandeweghe, Doubles Partnership, Doubles Player, Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, French Open Champion, Ground Strokes, Liezel Huber, Mary Joe Fernandez, Melanie Oudin, Reggio Calabria, Roberta Vinci, San Diego Sports, San Diego Sports Arena, Sara Errani, Vania King, Wta Championships, Wta Rankings