Fed Cup final tournament: question mark behind Serena, Barty, Kerber
From April 14th to 19th, 2020, a final tournament for the Fed Cup title will be held in Budapest. The draw has resulted in interesting groups - whoever plays for the individual teams is still open.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Feb 14, 2020, 01:11 pm
A look at the starting field at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart is particularly worthwhile this year: For players who have mentioned there, there should also be a good chance that the week before for their nations at the Fed Cup final tournament in Budapest compete. However, this applies primarily to those athletes who have to accept a further journey - namely Serena Williams or Ashleigh Barty. Both will probably be missing in Stuttgart.
Other top professionals who are starting in Stuttgart might like to run in their national colors, but have not made it to Budapest: Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina, for example. The latter has at least given the Ukraine in Europe / Africa Zone I a chance to compete again in the world group for a final place next year.
As far as Budapest is concerned, there is still a lot of gray theory. But we still want to speculate.
Is Barty coming, is Serena playing?
In group A , defending champions France, hosts Hungary and Russia meet. Maria Sharapova could be the most prominent, if not the best-ranked, participant here. However, this seems almost impossible due to the Russian's injury problems. A single person between Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic could become humanly moving - the two have been doubling successfully through the tennis circus for years.
Group B consists of Australia, Belarus and Belgium. Number one in the world, Ashleigh Barty , had it in Perth last fall to end Australia's 45-year wait for a Fed Cup win. And failed. After her semi-finals at the Australian Open, Barty has not yet shown herself on the tour. The Belarusians come to Budapest from the Netherlands with a conceivably scarce sense of achievement, Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich are certainly among the favorites.
Germany with Kerber and Görges?
The USA, Spain and Slovakia play for the victory in Group C. According to the law of the series, Serena Williams will not travel to Europe so early. Maybe she'll be playing in Madrid, but more in Rome, like last year. Sofia Kenin , the latest addition to the field of players at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, would probably be the number one American in the race. And could face Garbine Muguruza again in a top match - in a re-match of the Australian Open final. Muguruza, however, did not participate in the qualifying duel between the Spanish women.
There is still group D with the Czech Republic, Switzerland - and Germany. And the big questions as to whether Angelique Kerber and Julia Görges will come to Budapest. Or whether Rainer Schüttler can or must use Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria again, who solved the task in Brazil with extreme ease. In terms of paper, the Czech women are certainly to be favored - if Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova really do compete.