Top WTA Stars Serena, Sharapova, Halep And Radwanska Swing Right Back Into Action For The 2015 Fed Cup First Round Ties
The top female tennis stars on tour will take part in the 2015 Fed Cup World Group and World Group II first round ties that will be played in various countries from Feb. 7 to 8. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska will represent their home turf in the premier international team competition in women’s tennis.
Serena, along with her sister Venus, rising tennis star Madison Keys and Varvara Lephenko will represent the U.S. in the World Group II first round match against Paula Ormaechea, Maria Irigoyen, Nadia Podoroska and Tatiana Bua of Argentina in the indoor clay courts in Buenos Aires.
Sharapova will lead the Russian team, which includes Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vitalia Diatchenko in Krakow against sisters Agnieszka and Ursula Radwanska, Alicja Rosolska and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland. Sharapova is looking forward to benefit from her commanding 11-2 winning head-to-head record against eighth-ranked Radwanska.
World No. 3 Halep will take on Spain on the indoor hard courts of Galati. Halep is joined by Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu as well as 95th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru. They will play Spain represented by Garbine Muruguza, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Lara Arruabarrena and Annabel Medina Garrigues.
Australian No. 1 Sam Stosur leads Australia against 2014 Fed Cup runnerup Germany on the first round tie. Stosur is joined by Casey Dellacqua, Jarmila Gajdosova and Olivia Rogowska. They will play against top 10 player Angelique Kerber’s German team, which also features Sabine Lisicki, Julia Georges and Andrea Petkovic.
France is represented by Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier for its first round tie against Sara Errani, Camila Giorgi, Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp in Genoa. Team Canada’s lineup include Sharon Fichman, Gabriela Dabrowski, Francoise Abanda and Charlotte Robillard-Millette after Eugenie Bouchard declined the tie invite against Czech Republic represented by Karolina Pliskova, Tereza Smitkova, Denisa Allertova and Lucie Hradecka.
Dominika Cibulkova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Kristina Kucova will play against Kiki Bertens, Richel Hogenkamp, Arantxa Rus and Michaela Krajicek of Slovakia on the indoor claycourt of Omnisport Apeldoorn in Netherlands. Swiss athletes Time Bacsinzsky, Belinda Bencic, Viktorija Golubic and Xenia Knoll will face Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, Rebecca Peterson, Susanne Celik and Sofia Arvidsson at Helsinborg Arena in Sweden.
See complete first round schedule below:
WORLD GROUP (Venue)
Czech Republic vs. Canada (PEPS, Québec City, Canada)
Italy vs. France (105 Stadium, Genoa, Italy)
Poland vs. Russia (Krakow Arena, Krakow, Poland)
Australia vs. Germany (Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Germany)
WORLD GROUP II (Venue)
Slovakia vs. Netherlands (Omnisport Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn, Netherlands)
Spain vs. Romania (Danube Arena, Galati, Romania)
Sweden vs. Switzerland (Helsingborg Arena, Helsingborg, Sweden)
USA vs. Argentina (Pilara Tennis Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
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