MELANIE OUDIN TO REPLACE SLOANE STEPHENS FOR FED CUP

Written by: Staff on 3rd February 2013

MELANIE OUDIN TO REPLACE SLOANE STEPHENS FOR FED CUP

epa03371801 Melanie Oudin of the US hits a return to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during their match on the first day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 27 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/JASON SZENES |

The USTA and U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced today that Melanie Oudin will replace Sloane Stephens on the United States Fed Cup team for the 2013 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group First Round in Rimini, Italy, February 9-10. Oudin joins Fed Cup rookies Varvara Lepchenko and Jamie Hampton as well as doubles stalwart Liezel Huber.

“Melanie is such a team player to answer the call at the 11^th hour. She has played some of her best tennis in Fed Cup,” said Fernandez, who is in her fifth year as U.S. Fed Cup Captain. “We were excited for Sloane to make her Fed Cup singles debut, but that will have to wait for another day.”

Oudin, 21, was scheduled to play in the $100,000 Dow Corning Classic, a USTA Pro Circuit event in Midland, Michigan this week. She led the United States to the Fed Cup Final in 2009 and 2010 (both runner-up finishes to Italy). Overall, Oudin has played in seven Fed Cup ties and has a 5-8 singles record in the competition. The Marietta, Ga., native is currently No. 85 in the world and won her first career WTA Tour singles title last year in Birmingham, Great Britain, defeating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the final.

Stephens suffered an abdominal strain during her run to the Australian Open semifinals last month.

“I’m terribly disappointed that I won’t be able to play for my country in Italy,” said Stephens, who is ranked a career-high No. 17 in the WTA Tour Rankings and is 10-3 this year. “I played a lot more matches than I expected in four straight weeks in Australia and need to be careful not to let this ab injury sideline me for a long time.”

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the world’s largest annual international women’s team competition with 97 countries entering in 2013. The United States leads all nations with 17 Fed Cup titles, the last coming in 2000. For more information, including access to player and historical Fed Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/fedcup.

Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Fed Cup Team.

Topics: American tennis news, Liezel Huber, Mary Joe Fernandez, Melanie Oudin, Sloane Stephens, Sports, Tennis News, US Fed Cup

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tennisauthor says:

February 3, 2013 at 10:58 am

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