SERENA WILLIAMS, MARIA SHARAPOVA AND SIMONA HALEP HEADLINE FED CUP

Written by: on 2nd February 2015
Tennis Australian Open 2015
SERENA WILLIAMS, MARIA SHARAPOVA AND SIMONA HALEP HEADLINE FED CUP

epa04587266 Simona Halep of Romania in action against Ekaterina Makarova of Russia in their quarter-final match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs until 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi  |

The world’s Top 3 players have been nominated to play in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and World Group II first round ties on 7-8 February.

 

World No. 1 Serena Williams heads USA’s line-up for the World Group II first round match-up against Argentina. She will be joined by sister, Venus Williams, Varvara Lepchenko and Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys.

 

Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts during her women’s singles final match against Serena Williams of the USA at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 31 January 2015. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova will lead a strong Russian team into battle against Poland. Sharapova will line up alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vitalia Diatchenko in Krakow.

 

World No. 3 Simona Halep leads the way for Romania in its World Group II first round encounter against Spain at the Danube Arena in Galati. She will be joined by Irina-Camelia Begu, fresh from her round of 16 finish at the Australian Open this week, Monica Niculescu and Alexandra Dulgheru.

 

Poland has nominated another pair of sisters with Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska bound to be asked to carry a heavy workload in their World Group first round clash against Russia.

 

Team Canada has nominated three players for the time being, with Sharon Fichman, Gabriela Dabrowski and Francoise Abanda lining up to contest the home tie against Czech Republic.

 

Meanwhile, Czech Republic will be relying on Karolina Pliskova and Tereza Smitkova to get the defending champions off to a good start in Canada. They will be joined by Denisa Allertova and Lucie Hradecka.

 

Last year’s runner-up, Italy, is putting out a strong side to face France in the first round. Sara Errani, Camila Giorgi, Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp will look to move their team into the semifinals for a seventh straight year.

 

France has nominated Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier for their tie against Italy.

 

Germany, who finished runner-up in 2014, has fielded a very strong side led by world No. 9 Angelique Kerber. She is joined by Andrea Petkovic, Sabine Lisicki and Julia Goerges. Barbara Rittner has plenty of options for her team’s tie against Australia in Stuttgart.

 

Samantha Stosur of Australia plays a shot against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic during their second round match at the Apia International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, 13 January 2015. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Team Australia looks to have strength in depth with Sam Stosur, Casey Dellacqua, Jarmila Gajdosova and Olivia Rogowska in the line-up.

 

The Argentina team to face USA features Paula Ormaechea, Maria Irigoyen, Nadia Podoroska and Tatiana Bua.

 

Spain has nominated Garbine Muguruza, who will be making her Fed Cup debut, alongside Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Lara Arruabarrena and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

 

Dominika Cibulkova, ranked No. 10, was knocked out of the Australian Open by Serena Williams earlier today, but she has been nominated as Slovakia’s No. 1 for their tie against Netherlands.

 

Cibulkova leads a Slovakian team that also contains Magdalena Rybarikova, Anna Schmiedlova and Kristina Kucova.

 

Netherlands, who are hosting Slovakia at the Omnisport Apeldoorn, will be hoping Kiki Bertens can recpature her Fed Cup form from 2014, as she leads a Dutch team consisting of Richel Hogenkamp, Arantxa Rus and Michaella Krajicek.

 

Switzerland will be looking to youth for its tie against Sweden as 17-year-old Belinda Bencic will be the team’s No. 1 alongside Timea Bacsinszky, Viktorija Golubic and Xenia Knoll.

 

Sweden has named a tried and tested duo of Johanna Larsson and Sofia Arvidsson, who will make up half of the team alongside Rebecca Peterson and Susanne Celik.

 

The full nominations are listed below:

 

WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND

 

CANADA v CZECH REPUBLIC

Venue: PEPS, Quebec City, CAN (hard – indoors)

 

Canada

Sharon Fichman

Gabriela Dabrowski

Francoise Abanda

Captain: Sylvain Bruneau

 

Czech Republic

Karolina Pliskova

Tereza Smitkova

Denisa Allertova

Lucie Hradecka

Captain: Petr Pala

 

ITALY v FRANCE

Venue: 105 Stadium, Genoa, ITA (clay – indoors)

 

Italy

Sara Errani

Camila Giorgi

Roberta Vinci

Karin Knapp

Captain: Corrado Barazzutti

 

France

Alize Cornet

Caroline Garcia

Kristina Mladenovic

Pauline Parmentier

Captain: Amelie Mauresmo

 

POLAND v RUSSIA

Venue: Krakow Arena, Krakow, POL (hard – indoors)

 

Poland

Agnieszka Radwanska

Urszula Radwanska

Alicja Rosolska

Klaudia Jans-Ignacik

Tomasz Wiktorowski

 

Russia

Maria Sharapova

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Vitalia Diatchenko

Captain: Anastasia Myskina

 

GERMANY v AUSTRALIA

Venue: Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, GER (hard – indoors)

 

Germany

Angelique Kerber

Andrea Petkovic

Sabine Lisicki

Julia Goerges

Captain: Barbara Rittner

 

Australia

Samantha Stosur

Casey Dellacqua

Jarmila Gajdosova

Olivia Rogowska

Captain: Alicia Molik

 

WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND

 

NETHERLANDS v SLOVAKIA

Venue: Omnisport Appeldoorn, Appeldoorn, NED (clay – indoors)

 

Netherlands

Kiki Bertens

Richel Hogenkamp

Arantxa Rus

Michaella Krajicek

Captain: Paul Haarhuis

 

Slovakia

Dominika Cibulkova

Magdalena Rybarikova

Anna Schmiedlova

Kristina Kucova

Captain: Matej Liptak

 

ROMANIA v SPAIN

Venue: Danube Arena, Galati, ROU (hard – indoors)

 

Romania

Simona Halep

Irina-Camelia Begu

Monica Niculescu

Alexandra Dulgheru

Captain: Alina Cercel-Tecsor

 

Spain

Garbine Muguruza

Silvia Soler-Espinosa

Lara Arruabarrena

Anabel Medina Garrigues

Captain: Conchita Martinez

 

SWEDEN v SWITZERLAND

Venue: Helsingborg Arena, Helsingborg, SWE (hard – indoors)

 

Sweden

Johanna Larsson

Rebecca Peterson

Susanne Celik

Sofia Arvidsson

Captain: Lars-Anders Wahlgren

 

Switzerland

Belinda Bencic

Timea Bacsinszky

Viktorija Golubic

Xenia Knoll

Captain: Heinz Guenthardt

 

ARGENTINA v USA

Venue: Pilara Tennis Club, Buenos Aires (clay – outdoors)

 

Argentina

Paula Ormaechea

Maria Irigoyen

Nadia Podoroska

Tatiana Bua

Captain: Maria-Jose Gaidano

 

USA

Serena Williams

Venus Williams

Varvara Lepchenko

Madison Keys

Captain: Mary Joe Fernandez

 

(Courtesy of the Fed Cup and Original Link – http://www.fedcup.com/en/news/195271.aspx )

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