Draws Made For 2 Fed Cup Zone Group I Events

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2011

Draws Made For 2 Fed Cup Zone Group I Events

Elena Baltacha (GBR) |

The draws for two Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Zone Group I events – Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania – were made at the ITF offices in London on Monday.

EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP I

Municipal Tennis Club, Eilat, Israel
2-5 February

There were gasps at the draw ceremony when Pool A emerged as the group of death in Eilat, with Switzerland, Great Britain and Denmark being pulled out of the hat together.

Only the top nation in each round-robin Pool gets the chance on Saturday to compete for a place in the World Group II play-offs, so there is no time for slip-ups from any of the teams. The bottom nations face a fight to avoid relegation.

Switzerland is led by the evergreen Patty Schnyder alongside fellow Top 50 player Timea Bacsinszky. The Swiss were relegated from World Group II in 2009 but are one of the favourites to bounce back this year.

Great Britain has named the experienced duo of Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong, and exciting youngster Heather Watson provides the added support that could push the Brits into promotion contention.

Denmark boasts in its ranks world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, currently chasing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, although the team’s No. 2 player, Karen Barbat, is ranked outside the Top 500, piling the pressure onto Wozniacki’s shoulders.

The absence of Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska leaves the door open for Israel in Pool B. The host nation’s team includes world No. 12 Shahar Peer, fresh from a third round appearance in Melbourne.

Belarus is the team to beat in Pool C, having nominated world No. 9 Victoria Azarenka and world No. 73 Olga Govortsova, while Hungary and Romania are likely to dominate Pool D.

Pool A
Switzerland
Great Britain
Denmark

Pool B
Poland
Israel
Bulgaria
Luxembourg

Pool C
Belarus
Austria
Croatia
Greece

Pool D
Netherlands
Hungary
Romania
Latvia

ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP I

National Tennis Centre, Nonthaburi, Thailand
2-5 February

The addition of world No. 11 Na Li, who wasn’t in the original team nominations, makes China favourites to prevail from Pool A in Nonthaburi. The Chinese are hoping for an immediate return to World Group II after suffering relegation in 2010.

Kazakhstan, led by world No. 41 Yaroslava Shvedova, are bidding to top Pool B and play for a place in World Group II for the first time in the nation’s history. Japan is expected to provide the stiffest opposition.

Pool A
China, P.R.
Uzbekistan
Thailand
India

Pool B
Japan
Chinese Taipei
Kazakhstan
Korea, Rep.

AMERICAS ZONE GROUP I

Tennis Club Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2-5 February

The draw for Americas Zone Group I is scheduled to take place on 1 February, the day before the event gets under way.

Topics: Fed Cup

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls Top Stories

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

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.