Tennis News

EILAT, Israel – Even without their new star Johanna Konta, Great Britain had few problems securing a place in this weekend’s Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I promotion play-offs.

Singles victories for Heather Watson and Katie Swan helped Britain to a 2-1 win over Georgia in their final Group B outing. The result sets up a meeting with Belgium on Saturday to determine which nation will advance to the World Group II play-offs this spring.

In the absence of some of Britain’s more experienced campaigners, most notably Australian Open semifinalist Konta, 16-year-old Swann has stepped up magnificently, easing past Georgian No.2 Ekaterine Gorgodze, 6-3, 6-3, for her second win of the week. Watson then put the tie beyond Georgia’s reach by swatting aside Sofia Shapatava, 6-2, 6-0, in an hour.

“I wouldn’t call it easy at all, I don’t think any match is easy, I only have to focus 100% and be prepared for anything,” Watson said.

Sterner tests lie ahead, in the shape of a talented young Belgium side, which extended their perfect record this week with a 3-0 success over Bulgaria.

Ysaline Bonaventure got the ball rolling with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Elitsa Kostova, before Alison Van Uytvanck and Tsvetana Pironkova put their unbeaten records this week on the line.

In the end it was Van Uytvanck that prevailed, edging a see-saw opening set before cantering through the second, wrapping up an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory with an ace.

“I think they did a great job. They all have a little bit of experience now in Fed Cup, only one rookie this year,” Belgium captain Ann Devries said. “Everybody wants to go for it, everybody wants to win, and not just the players who are playing but everyone in the team.”

The other play-off at Eilat’s Municipal Tennis Centre will see the Ukraine take on home nation Israel.

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While Great Britain and Belgium are battling it out to climb another rung on the Fed Cup ladder, over in Europe the heavyweights will duke it out for a spot in the World Group semifinals.

In Leipzig, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber is hoping to inspire Germany to the semifinals for a third straight year when they take on neighbors Switzerland. Friday’s draw paired Kerber with Timea Bacsinszky, while in the opening rubber Andrea Petkovic takes on Swiss No.1 Belinda Bencic.

In Cluj, Romania make their return to the World Group when they meet defending champions Czech Republic. Romania, who last appeared at this stage in 1992, will be lead by Simona Halep, but face an uphill battle against the nine-time champions. Halep postponed nasal surgery to lead the home nation and opens the weekend against Karolina Pliskova. Petra Kvitova and Monica Niculescu will meet in Saturday’s second singles rubber.

The other two ties see 2008 champions Russia host the Netherlands, in Moscow, and Italy travel to Marseille to take on France.

Every week wtatennis.com brings you 10 Things To Know about the week – who is playing, where and much more. This week the Road To Singapore goes through Dubai and Rio de Janeiro…

1) Dubai is a significant stop on the Road To Singapore.
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is a Premier event and part one of the WTA’s fortnightly tour of the Middle East – part two is the Qatar Total Open. There’s over $2 million on the line, with the winner pocketing $465,480 and 470 points for the Road To Singapore leaderboard.

2) A strong line-up has made the trip to Dubai.
Even with a couple a high-profile withdrawals, four Top 10 players – and 10 of the Top 20 players in the world – are in Dubai, with the Top 8 seeds being Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Carla Suárez Navarro, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Roberta Vinci and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

3) Halep is looking to get back on track.
Defending champion Halep arrives in Dubai on the back of an indifferent start to 2016. After a surprise semifinal loss to Kuznetsova in Sydney, the Romanian suffered an even bigger shock at the Australian Open, crashing out to qualifier Zhang Shuai in the first round. She then split her two singles rubbers on Fed Cup duty against the Czech Republic, beating Kvitova but falling to Pliskova. Will she get back on track in Dubai?

4) Back-to-back titles no easy task.
Halep is looking to become just the third player to defend their title at Al Garhoud Street. The other two are Venus Williams (2009-10) and Justine Henin (2003-04, 2006-07).

5) If Kvitova clears early hurdles, watch out.
Kvitova has failed to win back-to-back matches here in four of her five appearances, in 2009 (to Julia Schruff), 2011 (to Ayumi Morita), 2014 (to Suárez Navarro) and 2015 (to Suárez Navarro). But in her only other try she went all the way to the title, in 2013 (beating Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic and Agnieszka Radwanska along the way).

6) Welcome to the club, Belinda.
By reaching the final last week in St. Petersburg, Belinda Bencic guaranteed herself a place inside the Top 10 for the first time in her career. Bencic is the 116th player to break into the elite bracket since computer rankings were introduced in 1975.

7) Halfway across the globe, the Latin American spring kicks off in Rio.
The Latin American leg of the tour kicks off this week with the Rio Open. Headlining the draw is home favorite and No.1 seed Teliana Pereira, who will be joined by Johanna Larsson, Danka Kovinic and Christina McHale.

8) Pereira hungry for WTA hat-trick.
Last April, Pereira became the first Brazilian in 27 years to win a WTA title when she triumphed at the Claro Open Colsanitas, in Bogotá. Eager to prove this was no flash in the pan, title number two soon followed at Florianopolis’ Brasil Tennis Cup. Will she score a hat-trick in Rio?

9) Hunting down Maria’s record.
No, not that Maria. In Bogotá, Pereira is the third Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title, after Maria Bueno (who won three) and Neige Dias (two). A Brazilian winning in Brazil is even rarer, though. Pereira is just the second Brazilian in the Open Era to win a WTA title on home soil – Dias achieved the feat once, doing it over in Guaruja in 1987.

10) Find out where you can watch live action this week.