Fed Cup Favorite Italy is Trying to Avoid Overconfidence for the Finals
Fed Cup Favorite Italy is Trying to Avoid Overconfidence for the Finals
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
Share this article:
Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:
10sBalls Top Stories
- No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
- 10SBALLS SHARES FAVORITE EPA TENNIS PHOTOS Of 2018
- THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY TENNIS PLAYER & FAN
- ATP MEN’S TENNIS • WILL IT MOVE FROM LONDON TO MANCHESTER OR TOKYO OR SINGAPORE? OR TURIN?
- ALIX RAMSAY WRITES TO “TENNIS SANTA CLAUS” WITH HER WISHES • ANDY MURRAY!
- CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE JACK KRAMER CLUB – DECEMBER 15 TO 22 2018 • UTR • ORACLE • AND AN AWESOME NEW TENNIS EVENT
- 10sBalls.com Shares Alix Ramsay’s Rambling On About Tennis and The Holidays
- ROGER FEDERER JOINED BY RAFA NADAL FOR THE 2019 LAVER CUP FESTIVITIES IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- TENNIS PLAYERS’ UNION – IS IT NEEDED? BY MARK WINTERS
- Tennis News: Wilson’s Revolution Is Here – THE CLASH
- ROTTERDAM TENNIS TOURNEY DIRECTOR RICHARD KRAJICEK ANNOUNCES DAVID GOFFIN TO PLAY IN 2019 ABN AMRO
- JELENA VEMIC’S PHOTO GALLERY
- TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON • 10SBALLS REPORTS ON THE LAWN TENNIS WRITERS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AT WIMBLEDON’S DEBENTURE CLUB
- 10sBalls.com Shares a Great Gift For A Tennis Player – The Functional Tennis Match Journal
- BNP PARIBAS TENNIS OPEN NAMED 2018 WTA PREMIER MANDATORY TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR
In Case You Missed It
EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA
Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE
Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER
According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife
Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos