U.S. FED CUP Preview, Order of Play, and Quotes

Written by: Staff on 20th April 2012

U.S. FED CUP Preview, Order of Play, and Quotes

Serena Williams of the United States hits a backhand in her fourth round match against Ekaterina Makarova of Russia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2012. Makarova won in two sets. EPA/DAVID CROSLING |

PREVIEW

The United States will look to regain its Fed Cup World Group status for 2013 when it faces Ukraine at the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff. Play begins Saturday, April 21, at 11:30 a.m. local time on an outdoor clay court at the Superior Golf & Spa Resort in Kharkiv, Ukraine. This is the first-ever meeting between these two nations in Fed Cup.

This will mark just the fourth time in Fed Cup history that the U.S. will compete in the World Group Playoff, and the U.S. is 2-1 in those ties. The U.S. beat Japan 5-0 in 1997 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., and beat Israel 5-0 in 2002 in Springfield, Mo., before losing to Germany 5-0 in 2011 in Stuttgart. Ukraine is 2-4 in six World Group Playoff ties since it began competing in Fed Cup in 1993, but won its last two Playoff ties, and will be seeking to begin 2013 in the World Group for the second consecutive year and third time overall.

The U.S. team will include Serena Williams, who will be joined by young Americans Christina McHale, Sloane Stephens, the daughter of the late New England Patriots running back John Stephens, and world No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber. Jamie Hampton is also travelling with the team.

The opening day of play in the best-of-five match series features each country’s No. 1 singles player against the No. 2 player from the opposing country. The exact order of play (which country’s No. 1 plays first) will be determined at the Draw Ceremony, which will be held on Friday, April 20. The second day of competition begins on Sunday with the “reverse singles,” starting with each country’s No. 1 player squaring off followed by the No. 2 players and then the doubles match. Each match is best-of-three-sets.

ORDER OF PLAY

DAY/LOCAL TIME MATCH PAIRING

Saturday, 11:30 a.m. Singles A: Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs. Christina McHale (USA)

Singles B: Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs. Serena Williams (USA)

Sunday, 11:00 a.m. Singles C: Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs. Serena Williams (USA)

Singles D: Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs. Christina McHale (USA)

Doubles: Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiya Kichenok (UKR) vs. Liezel Huber and Sloane Stephens (USA)

QUOTES

U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez

On Christina McHale opening the tie with the first singles match: “I think it is fantastic. Christina has now played a few Fed Cups. She has played both the first and second match. I think it is a good start for the team. As a player, I liked playing first and not knowing any results so I think it is a good thing for us.”

Christina McHale

On being selected to play the first singles match: “I have to be ready either way, whether I am playing first or second so I am just looking forward to playing tomorrow.”

Serena Williams

When asked about the order of play for singles and facing Lesia Tsurenko: “Like Christina said it doesn’t matter because you have to be ready anyway. I don’t know much about [Tsurenko] but Mary Joe has been able to tell me a few things about her and I am just going to go out there and try to play my game.”

Liezel Huber

On the U.S. being favored to win: “Anybody can win at any given time. I think experience is going to come into play. We don’t think of ourselves as underdogs or favorites because in tennis anything can happen at any time. Like Serena said, we are just going to play our game and hopefully they play great and so do we, to put on a good show for the fans.”

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