Group One play in the Fed Cup is set to begin tomorrow, with Croatia’s ladies traveling to Israel to take part in the four day tournament. Their Fed Cup hopes took a hit on Sunday, when their top ranked player, #62 Petra Martić, was forced to pull out of the competition with an injury. She was replaced by 22 year old Teresa Mrdeža, ranked 189th in the world. This will be Croatia’s first time showcasing their new generation of women’s tennis, with 16 year old Donna Vekić and 15 year old Ana Konjuh both receiving nominations. Croatia’s 4th player is doubles specialist Darija Jurak, currently ranked 42nd.
With Martić out, Vekić (#93) has been moved up to the #1 singles spot. Captain Iva Majoli will reveal the #2 singles player on game-day and we can likely expect that to differ day to day depending on the match-ups Croatia’s goal will be to qualify for World Group 2; and in the coming years the World Group, which they have not been in since 2002. They currently rank 40th in the world, and at minimum they will hope to move up in the rankings this year.
(L to R) Iva Majoli, Donna Vekić, Ana Konjuh
The format for Group 1 of the Fed Cup is drastically different from the format we saw with the men last weekend. Croatia is split into a four team round robin group, and will play one tie each day. On the fourth day of competition, Saturday, Croatia will play in either a promotion, relegation, or placing match depending on their performances in the group stage. Should they win their group and the promotion match, they will take part in the World Group II playoffs in April. The ties are best of three and will consist of two singles matches followed by the doubles match. The #2 singles players play first. Croatia’s group consists of #42 Georgia, #25 Austria, and #17 Belarus. Belarus will not have the world #1 Victoria Azarenka or their #2 singles player Olga Govortsova.
Croatia’s first match is on Wednesday against Austria. Austria has had some drama in their nomination process as their best player, #29 Tamira Paszek, declined her nomination, putting Austria’s hopes in jeopardy. Croatia now has a good chance to take this tie, with Austria’s singles players ranked 147th and 166th.
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lol.. well we havent had any issues for a few years but.. yes i do remember when there is any Croat playing any Serb it can spell some crowd trouble… i also recall some 14 year old girl who is an actor of Cro heritage being man-handled my police rofl
Yeah tennis is so cool. I love the Croat tennis riots in Aussie land. Boris Becker bitch!! The Williams sisters are really men.
I love tennis.. it’s a cool sport.. and i love Marin – he’s cool.
I hope we move up in this Fed Cup because 40th in the world is garbage for us. We should be higher than that. Really wish the best to Vekic and Konjuh.. hopefully in 5-6 years we’ll have some top 10 female players.. that’d be nice.
There are to many tennis nerds here.
Thanks for the streams Zach!
@Zach:
Thanks for the link.
Check here for streams: http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=189458&part=sports
Should be able to download it if you miss it from here: http://www.matchofthedays.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=11
livetv.ru
they stream a variety of games and it’s free
I’ve checked the tv guides in Canada and in the next 2 days between all our soccer channels they’re showing (some live, some not) almost every game, but not ours.
Not sure where to ask this, but: anyone know if there are any channels the Korea game will be broadcast on tommorrow…any recommended feeds/sites/channels for the game?
Surprised no one is really speaking about this! Well, kinda 🙂
What’s the thoughts on the line up tomorrow boys?
Dont worry, theyre both coming…
Never thought I would see the day where Womens tennis appears on CroatianSports.com before the national team playing on the same day