Fed Cup Update

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 1st November 2013

Fed Cup Update

epa03842120 Alisa Kleybanova of Russia hits a return to Jelena Jankovic of Serbia during their match on the fourth day of the 2013 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 29 August 2013. The US Open runs through Monday 09 September, a 15-day schedule for the first time. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

The ITF has announced the draw for the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final between Italy and Russia in Cagliari, Sardinia on November 2-3.

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 97 nations entered in 2013. The event is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2013 in the ITF’s centenary year.

ITALY v RUSSIA

Venue: Tennis Club Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, ITA (clay – outdoors)

Roberta Vinci (ITA) v Alexandra Panova (RUS)

Sara Errani (ITA) v Irina Khromacheva (RUS)

Sara Errani (ITA) v Alexandra Panova (RUS)

Roberta Vinci (ITA) v Irina Khromacheva (RUS)

Flavia Pennetta/Karin Knapp (ITA) v Alisa Kleybanova/Margarita Gasparyan (RUS)

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Alisa Kleybanova is the only player on Russia’s Fed Cup team to reach the second week of Grand Slam, but although she once cracked the top 15 she is a long way from that form as she’s only six months into her comeback from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

But if Russia is to pull off an upset in this weekend’s upcoming Fed Cup final in Cagliari,

Sardinia, Kleybanova might have to come up big.

Italy features standout clay courters Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta, while Russia doesn’t have any of its top players and has a team that includes No. 138 Alexandra Panova, No. 186 Kleybanova, as well as teenagers No. 231 Irina Khromacheva and No. 317 Margarita Gasparyan.

But Kleybanova, who has not played a WTA event of red clay since Rome of 2011, is looking at the tie as more of test of her mental state rather than an examination of where her game might go.

“I hope to use it as mental training because if I am able to deal with all the pressure and stress here I will be able to use it in normal tournaments next year,” she said. “ I’m not expecting great results here, but we can’t predict anything. I really want to just enjoy it and do my best because even if things don’t work out I just want to be happy myself and give myself credit for still a very good year.”

Kleybanova wasn’t sure she wanted to come when she was asked last week because she thought she would be headed back to her US base after the Moscow tournament to rest and prepare for 2013. But she answered the call because realizes her country needed her after Russia’s top 11 players either declined or pull out with injuries.

“I didn’t even have much time mentally to prepare for that because when I was playing last tournament in Moscow I was thinking only of going back to Florida and get ready for next season, so it was pretty challenging for me to say yes to come and play in clay court outside against the best players in the world,” said. “It was something I was looking forward to in a normal tournament, but Fed Cup is very different and it’s much harder for most players than just a normal tournament because the atmosphere is much more stressful land there is a lot of pressure and it’s a lot of responsibility.”

She echoed team coach Anastasia Myskina thoughts who said that on court attitude would be as critical as forehands and backhands.

“Inside we all know the match will be completely different with the crowd and pressure because in training even if you make mistakes you have a big room to change things,” she said. “Every mistake doesn’t count like in matches. This match is not so much about playing skills but how we can go through all this mentally because if mentally we can keep it together, we can find a way to play some good tennis.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Alexandra Panova, Alisa Kleybanova, BNP Paribas World Group Final, Fed Cup, Flavia Pennetta, Irina Khromacheva, Italy, Itf, Roberta Vinci, Russia, Sara Irrani, Tennis, Tennis News, Wta