FED CUP: U.S. vs. Sweden Preview Notes

Written by: Staff on 17th April 2013

FED CUP: U.S. vs. Sweden Preview Notes

epa03192634 US Fed Cup team players (L-R) Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Jamie Hampton, team captain Mary Joe Fernandez, Liezel Huber and Christina McHale pose for photographers during the Tennis Fed Cup match between Ukraine and the USA in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 22 April 2012. EPA/ANDREW KRAVCHENKO |

The United States will face Italy in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Playoff. Play begins Saturday, April 20, at 2:00 p.m. local time on outdoor hard court at the Delray Beach Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Fla.

The United States brings a strong Fed Cup team to Delray Beach, which includes Serena Williams, who regained the No. 1 ranking in the world on February 18, 2013, becoming the oldest woman (at age 31) to hold the top spot since the WTA computer rankings were introduced in November 1975. This was Williams’ sixth stint at No. 1 and took place nearly 11 years after she first became the No. 1-ranked tennis player in the world.

The team is rounded out by three additional players who are all ranked in the Top 30—Venus Williams, up-and-coming American Sloane Stephens, and Varvara Lepchenko, who made her debut in the 2013 World Group First Round in Italy in February, where she won both of her singles matches.

The World Group Playoff will mark the fifth matchup between the U.S. and Sweden in Fed Cup competition with the U.S. leading the series, 3-1. The two nations last faced each other in the second round of 1988 World Group competition, where the Swedes won, 2-1. The U.S. won the other three match-ups in 1966, 1975, and 1983. The winner of this match will advance to the 2014 World Group and have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year. The losing team will be relegated to World Group II in 2014. Sweden is looking to regain World Group status for the first time since 2003.

This will be the fourth Fed Cup tie played in Florida and the third played at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, making it the only venue to host a U.S. Fed Cup tie on three occasions. The U.S. squad has never lost a match in its three previous trips to Florida, posting 5-0 sweeps over Austria in the 1995 World Group quarterfinal in Aventura, and against Belgium in the 2005 World Group quarterfinal and the 2007 World Group quarterfinal, both in Delray Beach. The U.S. is 36-4 all-time in Fed Cup ties played at home.

This will mark just the fifth time in Fed Cup history that the U.S. will compete in the World Group Playoff, and the U.S. is 3-1 in those ties. The U.S. defeated Ukraine, 5-0, last year on the road led by Serena Williams. 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. Sweden is 1-1 in two World Group Playoff ties (in 2001 and 2003) and faced Japan in both ties.

This is the fifth year as U.S. captain for Mary Joe Fernandez. Fernandez led the U.S. to consecutive Fed Cup finals appearances in her first two years as captain (2009 and 2010), where the team faced Italy both times. She was the first U.S. captain to accomplish that feat since Marty Riessen in 1986-87. Fernandez holds a 6-5 record as U.S. Fed Cup captain.

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, and holds a 142-33 all-time Fed Cup record.

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 19. 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.

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DAY/LOCAL TIME MATCH PAIRING

Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

Singles A: U.S. No. 1 vs. SWE No. 2 (or SWE No. 1 vs. U.S. No. 2)

Singles B: Opposite Pairing of Singles A

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Singles C: U.S. No. 1 vs. SWE No. 1

Singles D: U.S. No. 2 vs. SWE No. 2

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Anticipated Participants

Both captains submitted an initial four-woman roster 10 days prior to play, but can change two of the four players originally nominated up to one hour before Friday’s draw ceremony when they are required to submit their official lineups.

TEAM USA

TEAM SWEDEN

Serena Williams

Sloane Stephens

Venus Williams

Varvara Lepchenko

Sofia Arvidsson

Johanna Larsson

Hilda Melander

Sandra Roma

Mary Joe Fernandez

Captain