2013/05/22

Great Britain Stuns Russia to Reach Davis Cup World Group Play-offs

 

By Ros Satar

 

Dan Evans [GBR] def. Evgeny Donskoy [RUS] 6-4, 6-4, 6-1

 

(April 7, 2013) COVENTRY, England – After three epic five-setters, it felt almost like short-change when Dan Evans clinched the Group I  second round tie 3-2 against Russia in straight sets.

 

Having finished the first day 0-2 down, and only being ranked as favorites to win the doubles, it was all to play for with two live rubbers on the Sunday.

 

It was key for Evans to capitalize on Ward’s earlier three-and-a-half hour win over Dmitry Tursunov, which he did so with a single break to take the first set 6-4.

 

Evans started in much the same way, breaking again to lead Russia 3-1, but lost the advantage when Donskoy broke to level at 3-3.

 

Donskoy was moving better, and dialing back into the match, but another consolidated break for Evans put Great Britain two sets up.

 

Evans was inspired as he broke the Russian twice in the first three games, and again to build up a 4-0 lead in the third set.

 

Donskoy got a game back on the board, and saved one match point in the final game, but pushed a forehand wide to complete a remarkable day for the British team.

 

There may have been some who questioned Leon Smith’s decision to replace Jamie Baker at such a late stage with Dan Evans, but it most certainly paid off.

 

And on Friday, where Evans admitted he know he did not do enough hard work or practice to move on, it was a more positive sounding young man in press.

 

His aim is to continue to work on his ranking to earn a place as the British No. 2 to Andy Murray.

 

He said: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to play.”

 

Leon Smith now has competition for places, regardless of whether Andy Murray is playing.

 

There was vindication for the difficult decision to replace Jamie Baker with Evans, based on the courts and also the results of the players before hand.

 

He said: “There wasn’t an obvious choice to start with. At the end of the day it was the right choice.”

 

Great Britain will now go on to play in the World Group play-offs in September.

 

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Euro/Africa Zone Group 1 second round result:

Great Britain defeated Russia 3-2

Rubber 1 – D. Tursunov (RUS) d. D. Evans (GBR) 64 67(5) 64 57 64

Rubber 2 – E. Donskoy (RUS) d. J. Ward (GBR) 46 46 75 64 86

Rubber 3 – C.Fleming/J.Marray (GBR) d. V.Baluda/I.Kunitsyn (RUS) 61 64 62

Rubber 4 – J. Ward (GBR) d. D. Tursunov (RUS) 64 57 57 64 64

Rubber 5 – D. Evans (GBR) d. E. Donskoy (RUS) 64 64 61

 

 

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Ward Rallies Past Tursunov to even tie with Russia 2-2

 

By Ros Satar

James Ward [GBR] def. Dmitry Tursunov [RUS] 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

 

(April 7, 2013) COVENTRY, England – After facing the press on Friday in utter desolation, British No. 2, James Ward, rallied against a sometimes agitated Tursunov to bring GB level with Russia.

 

After starting so impressively against Evgeny Donskoy, only to lose in five sets from being two sets and a break up, there was a lot of pressure on Ward’s thin shoulders.

 

If any nerves were evident on Ward’s side, he hid them well, banging down two aces a-piece, as the first five games went with serve.

 

The first sign of frailty appeared on Tursunov’s serve, taken to deuce twice in successive serves.

 

It paid off for Ward as he needed just one break point to edge ahead 5-4, before topping off the first set with a hold to love.

 

The games were going tightly with serve in the second set.

 

At times Tursunov seemed just a little slow and Ward struggled to get into Tursunov’s service games, letting two break points go, at 5-5.

 

It was Ward’s turn for fraying nerves, starting with a double fault, while serving to stay in the set, and ending with a netted cross-court forehand to hand Russia the second set 7-5.

 

British hopes were raised with an early break in the first game of the third set, only for Tursunov to break straight back.

 

A stream of errors from Ward gave Tursunov a second break in the third set, to leave Ward coming out to stay in the set at 2-5.

 

Ward was rewarded for his tenacity by breaking Tursunov in the next game to put himself back on serve.

 

Despite that, Ward found himself having to save break points on his next two serves.

 

Tursunov turned up the pace, aided and abetted with another error-strewn game by Ward, to take the third set 7-5.

 

Ward started the brighter in the fourth set breaking early, and Tursunov picked up a code violation as he started to get annoyed with the crowd.

 

Ward just needed the one set point as Tursunov netted forehand return to even the match and take the rubber into a deciding set.

 

Ward got a break to lead 3-2, courtesy of a Tursunov double fault on break point, after a long rally where the Russian sent a forehand flying long.

 

Just keeping his nose ahead, the Brit was only taken to deuce once on his serve, before coming out to serve for the match at 5-4.

 

To the watching crowd’s delight, Ward held his final serve to 15, finishing with an ace to go from zero to hero.

 

Ward said: “It would have been very tough to take 2 5-set losses in a weekend.

 

“If anything it’s even more pleasing beating Tursunov, who I’ve lost to twice in the past”

 

Team captain, Leon Smith had been reiterating the same advice, to serve out wide to the Russian unless he started to read the serve.

 

And Ward was happy to acknowledge the captain’s belief in him.

 

He said: “I’m grateful to him for the opportunity to play again and show heart and desire and everything that he wanted this weekend, and I think I showed it.”

 

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

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Great Britain Wins Doubles Rubber Over Russia in Davis Cup

 

Fleming/Marray [GBR] def. Baluda/Kunitsyn [RUS] 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

By Ros Satar

(April 6, 2013) COVENTRY, England – The British team were always the favorites to win this doubles rubber, and Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming did not disappoint.

 

The British pair, ranked 16th and 28th respectively, were counting on a win, to give the British team any hope at all of salvaging the second round Europe /Africa zone Group 1 tie, after two crushing 5-set defeats on the first day.

 

Victor Baluda (doubles ranking of 440) and Igor Kunitsyn (439) would be facing the British team, although there had been some speculation that Dmitry Tursunov would replace Baluda.

 

After some tentative serves into the lights, Marray kicked off his Davis Cup debut with a strong hold.

 

The Russians may be ranked some 400 places below the Brits, but were already exhibiting some good tagging shots, especially coming from Kunitsyn.

 

First blood went to the Brits, breaking Kunitsyn to take an early lead.

 

With another break, this time against Baluda on the third break point, the Brits took the first set, in just under half an hour.

 

The first break of the second set came even earlier, again on Kunitsyn’s serve, but the Russians stayed in contention, when Kunitsyn held for the first time since the match began, as the Brits maintained a single break margin.

 

Fleming came out to hold, with an overhead smash from Marray sealing the second set 6-4.

 

The final set could not have started worse for Russian pair, with Baluda being broken in the first game, followed by Kunitsyn in the next service game.

 

The crispness that they had started to display in the second set deserted them, and although they got two games on the board, they never took the British pair to deuce on any serve.

 

Fleming came out to serve for the match, and although the Russian pair saved one of the match points, an ace nailed the win.

 

After the match, Marray described how he’d felt his debut had gone:

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of, to get the opportunity to represent your country, it’s fantastic.”

 

For Fleming, it was his eighth Davis Cup win in a row.

“It’s something to be proud of, but in tennis and life you’ve got to keep pushing forward,” he said.

 

“It’s all about focusing on what the team needs to do and my aim when it comes to DC, is to play one of those matches in the World group.

“It would be a special occasion and I’ve not managed to do that.”

 

There was a nice touch on the on-court interview, as Colin Fleming dedicated the win to Davis Cup team-mate Ross Hutchins, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

 

He is over half way through his chemotherapy and the initial results show the treatment is working.

 

Later in press, Leon Smith and Colin Fleming described how Ross had spent hours watching and analyzing the Russian team.

 

Fleming said: “It’s great that he’s still involved in the team.

“I know Ross has got big plans to play again, and I’m sure he’ll be part of the team again in the future.”

 

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

Day 2 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Euro/Africa Zone Group 1 second round results:

Russia leads Great Britain 2-1

Rubber 1 – D. Tursunov (RUS) d. D. Evans (GBR) 64 67(5) 64 57 64

Rubber 2 – E. Donskoy (RUS) d. J. Ward (GBR) 46 46 75 64 86

Rubber 3 – C.Fleming/J.Marray (GBR) d. V.Baluda/I.Kunitsyn (RUS) 61 64 62

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Donskoy Rallies from Two Sets Down to Give Russia 2-0 Lead Over Great Britain in Davis Cup

 

By Ros Satar

 

Evgeny Donskoy [RUS] def. James Ward [GBR] 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 8-6

 

(April 5, 2013) COVENTRY, ENGLAND – Evgeny Donskoy delivered a real heartbreaker in another five-set thriller on the first day of the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Russia in  the Euro/Africa zone second round Group 1 play.

 

Donskoy came from two sets down to give Russia a 2-0 lead at the end of the first day.

 

At the start of the match, though, the outcome looked far from certain.

 

In press, Dan Evans regretted not starting fast enough, James Ward more than made up for it.

 

The British No. 2 came out swinging solidly with very few unforced errors, and an early break secured him the first set.

 

A similar fast start to the second set meant it would be a long way back for the Russian, Evgeny Donskoy, who impressed many with his performance against Andy Murray at Indian Wells.

 

It was almost as though, with the pressure reversed, Donskoy was left floundering, at times his feet just not catching up with the rest of him.

 

That is not to say that he did not have some chances of his own, breaking back to make sure that Ward would not take this match for granted.

 

Into the third set and there was a distinct feeling that Donskoy was feeling his way back into the match.

 

Nerves seemed to overtake Ward, as he scrambled to save three set points, capitulating on the fourth.

 

After such a blistering start, suddenly it was Ward’s turn to look ill at ease, going down a break quickly in the fourth set.

 

Ward exhibited some of that earlier confidence, holding to love to stay in the set as the Russian was taken to deuce on his serve, for the fourth set.

 

Ward saved two set points but a lazy squash shot sailed just long past the corner of the court, to take the second rubber into a deciding fifth set.

 

It was beginning to look a little like last man standing out there, as the fifth set progressed with serve, particularly grueling on Ward’s service game, saving the first break points against is serve in the decider.

 

Donskoy was coming up with the goods both times he was serving to stay in the set.

 

As Ward came out to serve at 6-6 there was a sense that he had made his last stand, as the Russian broke.

 

There was a brief glimmer of hope as the Russian went 0-30 down, serving for the match, and then again as Ward saved the first match point against him.

 

Suddenly it was Donskoy’s turn to feel under the hammer, as Ward wrestled a break point back, and then had to save a second match point.

 

The third time was the charm for Donskoy as Russia took the second rubber, 8-6 in the final set.

 

It was an interesting contrast in press, with an equally dejected Ward hoping to work harder to improve, whereas Evans understood that he was struggling with that desire to improve.

 

Leon Smith concluded the conference, believing that the tie could be turned around, starting with the doubles tomorrow, with the top British pairing of Fleming and Marray favorites to put a rubber on the board for Britain.

Despite trailing 0-2 in the tie, Captain Leon Smith said, “I am so proud of both Dan and James today. It was excellent international tennis, very high level, more than eight hours and great value for money. The team spirit was great today and we have it still all to play for tomorrow in the doubles and in Sunday’s singles.”

 

Then on Sunday, can two players who have proved they can punch above their weight, turn things around?

 

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

Related Article:

Tursunov’s Five-Set Win Over Evans Gives Russia 1-0 Lead Over Great Britain in Davis Cup

 

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Tursunov’s Five-Set Win Over Evans Gives Russia 1-0 Lead Over Great Britain in Davis Cup

 

By Ros Satar

Dmitry Tursunov [RUS] def Dan Evans [GBR] 6-4, 6-7(5),6-4, 5-7, 6-4

(April 5, 2013) COVENTRY, ENGLAND -It was a great gamble, that almost, but did not quite pay off.

Great Britain’s Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith replaced first choice, Jamie Baker, at pretty much the eleventh hour, in favor of Dan Evans.

Evans’ heroics in last year’s ties and perhaps more of a familiarity with faster courts that Baker, meant the pressure was on the shoulders of a player ranked 325 in the world.

Coming out, Evans seemed relaxed enough, but first blood went to Dmitry Tursunov, breaking Evans to love to lead 4-2.

Evans broke back, but it wasn’t enough to keep the first set from going to the Russian 6-4.

Evans seemed to want to go for crowd pleasing forehand winners, that soon became his undoing, and Tursunov was looking sharp at the net.

In the second set, Evans showed that he was made of sterner stuff, breaking the Russian to lead 4-3, but again consistency seemed to desert him, just when he needed it most.

Coming out to serve for the set, he saved one break point but a double-fault on another handed a reprieve to Tursunov.

Forcing the second set into a tiebreak, Evans kept his nose ahead just enough to level the match.

A lapse in concentration at the start of the third set, left Evans looking a little flat at times, again losing out by a single break margin.

A change of top and a change of fortunes in the fourth set as it was Tursunov’s time to look a little tired, as Evans broke to take the fourth set 7-5.

Was the faith Smith had showed in Evans about to pay off in another heroic win?

Sadly not, as Evans lost the opening game of the final set, and although the men traded a couple of breaks, it was not enough to keep Tursunov at bay.

In press, Evans had to face the inevitable questions about why he cannot translate his level of play to the events week in, week out?

He said: “I don’t train hard enough and I don’t work hard enough day in day out.”

He acknowledged that in the past, he had just been enjoying life.
“It’s not that I don’t want to do it, I obviously want to do it, but for whatever reasons, there are distractions.“

“Hopefully now, I’ve been working pretty hard since the start of the year.”

Tursunov acknowledged it had been a tough match.

“I was really very impressed with his returning.

“At times he definitely played made some shots I wasn’t expecting him to, and there were also a few shots that also a few opportunities I didn’t capitalize on.”

When asked about whether Evans could achieve that potential if he worked harder, the Russian acknowledged that sometimes Davis Cup brings out the best in people.

“I think the first step for him is to realize what he’s doing wrong.
“That also comes a little bit with experience.”

Time (or maybe Sunday) will tell whether Evans can build on this experience.

Ros Satar is a British Journalist- an IT journalist by day, and a sports journalist in all the gaps in between. She is the co-founder of Britwatch Sports (britwatchsports.com). Follow her on twitter at @rfsatar.

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Great Britain Moves into World Group II Play-Off

Heather Watson

Heather Watson

(February 10, 2013) Great Britain’s Fed Team have defeated Bulgaria 2-0 in their promotional play-off of the Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I competition. This puts Great Britain into the World Group II play-off on April 20-21. The venue and opponent for the team will be announced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at 1100 GMT on Wednesday, February 13.
In Sunday’s first singles rubber, Laura Robson beat Dia Evtimova 6-0 6-4 in exactly an hour. In contrast to Robson’s previous performance against Hungary the previous day where she dropped the opening set 6-0, she came out firing this time and barely dropped a point as she bageled her opponent in 21 minutes. The British No. 2 dropped her serve once in the match as she fell behind 1-2, but broke back immediately and broke again in the final game for victory to put Team GB 1-0 in front. Following the match, Robson said: “I was really happy to get the win and put the team 1-0 up. I definitely played better than yesterday and today conditions were very tough in the wind. Overall I was pleased with my play all week putting the team ahead the three times I played singles.”

 

In the second singles, British No. 1 Heather Watson put in a strong comeback to defeat the opposition’s top singles player, former Wimbledon semifinalist, Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 90 minutes. After holding to open the match, Watson dropped the next seven games in a row before gaining the second set’s only break for 4-3 and was never threatened again, winning five games in a row herself to lead 4-0 in the decider and breaking again for 5-2. Reflecting on the match, the Watson commented: “I was making too many easy mistakes during the first set and I knew in the second I had to make life tougher for her. Once I got that break in the seventh game I was rolling, and in the third I played really well. It means a lot for the whole team to come here and get the job done. We all had a fantastic time on and off the court during the whole week and it was the best Fed Cup experience yet for me.”

 

Speaking after the tie, Captain Judy Murray said, “Great performances from Laura and Heather today gave us a winning 2-0 lead over Bulgaria and promotion from Euro/Africa Zone I. This win puts us into a play-off in April for a place in World Group II and we are all very much hoping for a home tie. We’ve had a great week with a terrific team spirit. The girls have all worked hard on court and had a lot of fun off court. Fed Cup is the only chance for the girls to play as a team for their country so it’s important that they experience is enjoyable both competitively and socially. We are all looking forward to the draw next Wednesday and to see what comes out of that.

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Great Britain Defeats Hungary at Fed Cup

HeatherWatsonWTA

(February 9, 2013) Great Britain Fed Cup Team have defeated Hungary 2-1 in their third tie of the Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I competition. This puts the Group B winners, Great Britain, into a promotional play off against the winners of Group D, Bulgaria, at 0930 (0730 GMT) on Sunday morning.
In Saturday’s first singles rubber, Laura Robson beat Greta Arn 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 in one hour 33 minutes. Robson was sluggish in the beginning, winning only nine points during the whitewash 20-minute opening set. The British No. 2 then took an injury time-out to for tightness in her left shoulder. Robson saved two break points to start the second set and once she broke in the fourth game she was never in danger again. Robson broke to level the match and won the first five games of the decider before her Hungarian opponent could hold one last time. Following the match, Robson said: “After the first set I thought it can’t get any worse. I didn’t give myself the best start with too many easy errors. I had some treatment on my shoulder to loosen it up and that also gave me some time to regroup and play better tennis in the second and third sets.”

 

In the second singles, British No. 1 Heather Watson put in a strong performance to defeat the opposition’s top singles player Timea Babos 6-3, 6-2 in 85 minutes. Watson broke twice to lead 3-0, was caught at 3-all but took seven games in a row from there, to turn momentum firmly her way. Reflecting on the match, the Watson commented: “I was really happy to turn it around from yesterday and I was much stronger mentally today. I didn’t panic when she got back to 3-all, sticking to my game plan and the second set was easier. It feels great to get through to the play-offs tomorrow and we will give it everything we have got.”

 
In the dead doubles rubber, Johanna Konta and Laura Robson were unable to prevent the Hungarian team of Reka Luca Jani and Katalin Marosi winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in one hour, 37 minutes.

 

 

Speaking after the tie, Captain Judy Murray said, “It was great to establish a winning lead after the singles against Hungary today although we got off to the worst possible start when Laura lost the first set 6-0. But she made a remarkable recovery to win in three and Heather found some of her best form to beat Timea Babos in straight sets. Today’s win puts us top of Group B and sets up a promotion play off with Group B winners Bulgaria. Tsvetana Pironkova, a former Wimbledon semi finalist, is their No. 1 so we are anticipating at tough battle.

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Great Britain Win Fed Cup Tie Over Portugal

LauraRobson for Wilson

(February 8, 2013) Great Britain has defeated Portugal in their second tie of the Fed Cup  Euro/Africa Zone Group I competition.

 

In the first singles rubber, British No. 2 Laura Robson beat Margarida Moura 6-2, 6-1. Robson was always in command during the 64-minute encounter, moving out to a 4-0 lead, allowing her opponent holds in the fifth and seventh games of the opening set. In the second, the Briton raced out to a 5-0 lead before dropping her serve for the only time all day.

 

Speaking after the match, Robson said: “I’m very happy with the win, I felt quite rusty since I hadn’t played a match since Melbourne. It was nice to get the team off to a 1-0 lead before Heather’s match.”

 

In the second singles, British No. 1 Heather Watson was defeated by Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-1, 6-4 in 67 minutes. The Portuguese dominated throughout allowing Watson to hold only in the fourth game of the opening set. In the second, Watson fought back twice from a break down at 0-1 and 2-4 only to lose her serve each time, most crucially at 4-all. Reflecting on her match, the British No. 1 commented: “I didn’t play good at all today, I just didn’t feel the ball well. My opponent on the other hand played fantastic, and when mix those two, that’s what happens.”

In the deciding doubles, Robson and Watson combined strongly to score an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 victory to win the tie 2-1. The Brits broke in the fourth and eighth games to move a set in front and only allowed the Portuguese team of Michelle Larcher de Brito and Joana Vale Costa a break of serve in the third game of the second set, taking the match in 55 minutes. After the match, Watson said: “I’m very happy that i could turn it around in the doubles. I think Laura and I are a great team and we combine really well together. We were very excited to get the win and put Great Britain through.”

 

Speaking after the tie, Captain Judy Murray said, “Laura got us off to a great start with a comfortable straight sets win over the Portuguese no. 2. Heather struggled to find her best form against a very solid Larcher de Brito and that put us into a deciding doubles rubber. Heather and Laura continued their unbeaten Fed Cup doubles run to give us a 2-1 win. Tomorrow we face Hungary who are also unbeaten in Group B and a win would take us into a promotion play off on Sunday.

The GB Fed Cup Team will now face Hungary in tomorrow’s third group tie at 09:30 local time (07:30 GMT) and a victory would see Great Britain play the winners of Group D on Sunday for a play off position, to determine who would face the Group A & C winners, either at home or away in April.

 

For more information go to www.LTA.org.uk/FedCup.

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Watson, Robson, Keothavong and Konta Named to British Fed Cup Team

FedCupLogo

(January 7, 2013) Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Anne Keothavong and Johanna Konta have been announced by the Lawn Tennis Association as Great Britain’s Fed Cup team for the  Europe/Africa Zone Group I tie that will take place from February 6-9 2013 at the Municipal Tennis Club in Eilat, Israel.

 

Elena Baltacha who is currently recovering from injury will also be traveling with the team. The team will be led by Judy Murray who was appointed as Fed Cup Captain back in December  of 2011.

 

Judy Murray said: “Last year’s Fed Cup was a great experience for all of us and we came close to securing a place in the World Group for the first time since 1995. Heather and Laura have pushed themselves up into the top 50 in the WTA rankings this year and they will have wonderfully experienced back-up in Anne and Bally who have 22 Fed Cups between them. Jo Konta makes her debut on the team after a terrific 2012 season which saw her break into the top 150. We have a great squad and we will be aiming to put ourselves in World Group contention once again.”

 

British No. 1 Heather Watson said, “Playing Fed Cup is always a highlight for me during the year. Most of the time we are out there playing for ourselves, but it’s a lot of fun and a great honour to compete as a team and represent our country against the best in the world.” Watson ended 2012 at a career-best No. 49 (currently No. 47) in the world winning her first career WTA singles title at the Japan Open, having already claimed Tour doubles titles at Stanford and Dallas in the USA during the summer.

 

Robson said, “’I am really excited to be part of the Fed Cup team again and I can’t wait to get back out there and hopefully win all of our matches.” Robson ended a career-best season in 2012 close to the Top 50, highlighted by a Silver Medal in mixed doubles at the Olympics, beating former Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters and Li Na at the US Open and then becoming the first woman since 1990 to reach a WTA singles final, before Watson went one better, three weeks later.

 

“I can’t believe this will be my 12th time representing my country,” said British No. 3 Anne Keothavong. “I feel really proud how we have grown as a team in the last couple of years and came so close to making World Group II last year. It’s an added motivation knowing how close we were to try and take the extra step in 2013.”

 

Johanna Konta, is making her Fed Cup debut: “I’m so excited it’s beyond words and a real thrill to be nominated alongside Heather, Laura, Anne and Bally.”

 

The Aegon GB Fed Cup Team will contest the Europe/Africa Zone Group I, alongside 15 other nations, all vying to take the top two spots and progress to the World Group II play offs in April.

The 16 tennis nations in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I include: Austria, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey.

 

The format will be four groups, each having four teams, all competing against each other (three matches) in Round-robin format. Play starts on Wednesday, 6 February and continues every day. The winners of each group will play off (Group A v Group C and Group B v Group D) to determine which two nations will advance to the World Group II Play-offs in April 20-21, 2013. All other nations will compete for positional Play-offs, including the final two relegation spots.

 

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Judy Murray Talks about her new role as Great Britain’s Fed Cup Captain

Lucia Hoffman interviewed Great Britain’s Fed Cup team Captain Judy Murray during the first week of the Sony Ericsson Open last month here is an excerpt from the interview:

Q: Judy, now you have a new role as Fed Cup captain for Great Britain. How does it feel to be in this new role?

 

JM: Well, for me it was a great opportunity because, you know, I have always worked with junior players and then, obviously, became very familiar with the tennis tour travelling with Jamie and Andy. But I really didn’t know anything about the women’s tour at all, or working with senior female players. So, you know, it was a new challenge and it came in a very good time for me, because obviously, Jamie and Andy are 24 and 26, so they are growing up, they have strong teams around them, and they don’t need me around so much.

 

So it’s perfect. For me it was a great time, so it’s a new challenge, and a big opportunity because to be able to like, captain your country, it doesn’t get any better than that. So I just decided that I would take it when it was offered to me. I decided that I would give it a go. I think I started in December and I realized, because, of our Fed Cup tie was in February, i didn’t have enough a lot of time to get to know our players, to get to know the women’s games. So, after Christmas, I spent part of December trying to get to know the British players better, that were likely to be on the team. And after Christmas, I pretty much went on the road to tournaments in Auckland, Tasmania, and Australia, in order to try and spend as much time as i could with our players, and also, to kind of scout our opposition.

 

So, I’ve hardly been at home all year, because of Fed Cup and because we did well in Israel, so we have another tie in Sweden, at end of April. That means I have to come out and support our players and watch how they are performing and also to scout the Swedish players. So it’s been quite busy so far.

 

 

Q: Sweden has two experienced players, Johanna Larson and Sofia Arvidson, who is feeling confident after winning the Memphis title in February, also, two younger players, Hilda and upcoming talented player, Ellen Allgurin. How is the Great Britain team compared to the Swedish team?

 

JM: Well, we have four players who can all play on the team, and when we were in Israel, everyone played. And the two older players, Keothavong and Baltacha played on the singles, and Watson and Robson played the doubles. Everybody performed well, everybody contributed. There was a great  team spirit. I think there were a nice mix between the older players and the younger players coming through. And we had a lot of fun, and they all supported well and bolted into all the analyses we have done. So, for me the experience was great and we were hoping we might get a home tie against Sweden, because it has been a long, long time since Britain were in that type of position.

 

 

Q: Britain is ahead 3-2 in the head-to-head but Sweden won last two ties. What are your thoughts on that?

 

JM: I think, you know, the Swedish team, they have two very good players similarly ranked to Baltacha and Keothavong. I think it will be a close tie.

 

 

Q: You bring a lot of personal experience to this new position as well as being a former Scotland national coach, helping developing new talents with LTA, being in the spotlight with Andy and Jamie for quite a while on the tour, and spending time with the Adidas team in Las Vegas. In which ways you use your experience on this new role?

 

JM: The way that I saw  was that the draw for the  Fed Cup in Israel was made in January, by which time I was in Tasmania, or maybe I was already in Melbourne, so what we were able to do ,was we knew the team that would be in our group, so we were able to watch all of their players during the Australian Open qualifying and the main draw, and we were able to obtain footage of their matches, and be able to really analyze and to plan the tactics for those opponents in a way that its harder to do at a normal tournament, because you just got a day to know who you are playing in the next round. We had a lot of time to plan that for a while, we went out, five or six days before the event started in Israel. We went down quite early in order to get to know each other well, and just plan, because I didn’t know the girls all that well so I wanted to have extra time with them too.

 

 

Q: Do you feel every player is unique?

 

JM: Everybody is unique, everybody is different, but not as much as (the) way they play. But is want to get to know them as people, to know what they would respond to, what they might react badly to. Just to get a feel for how they liked to be when you are sitting on the court with them because although you have on court coaching on the women’s tour once a set, but  you know, having someone seating besides you every changeover, not everyone likes that. But I think the main thing that I learned was just about to keep it very simple. Don’t speak for the sake of speaking, if nothing needs to be said, don’t speak for the sake of speaking, just to fill in space. try to be very, very positive, very reassuring, and encouraging and just for them to know that you are truthfully on their corner. I thought I would be nervous doing that, because I have never done it before, the on-court part. But I actually once I got out there I was totally relaxed about it and it was totally fine. Because I think the last thing the player wants to is to know that the captain is uptight.

 

 

Q: Is the captain seeing as a Mother figure?

 

JM: I have been coaching for a long time, I have been coaching, not in any major way, but I think I started coaching maybe just our local club, maybe twenty years ago, but most of my experience comes from working with young players in Scotland and working with Jamie and Andy and trying to help them develop their careers. But the thing I liked the most about the game is the tactical side of it, so, when it comes to doing sort of captaining or coaching for a team, for me sort of analyzing the opponent, preparing a player to play specific people, I think that is the part of the game that I enjoy the most. But I love coaching, I love teaching, and I think I like to understand people, how they work, how they learn, what they respond to, and you know to challenge yourself to find the right way to deal with different people.

 

With the girls I think in this role, it helps when you have kids on your own because it helps you to understand what they are going through when they are growing up.

 

 

Q: What’s the difference between coaching boys and girls?

 

JM: I think it is. Girls need more reassurance, more like, keeping them happy, so they can feel good about themselves. That’s one of the things I feel very strongly about when I am working with the kids, or like this morning when I was working with Heather Watson. It is so much about making them feel good about themselves, whatever level they are at, because gives them confidence.

 

 

Q: How to you see the future of the young tennis generation in Great Britain?

 

JM: Watson and Robson, are both very young and very different in terms of their game styles and personalities, and I think both of them because they are young, because they have not been known on women tour for very long, it’s all about learning the business, being a tennis professional, day in and day out. Everything you have to do, becoming independent, being able to make decision for yourself on and off the courts. I think when you are in the juniors, it’s very much in a comfort zone. You have coaches traveling with you probably doing things for you. I think as you move on you have to become quite selfish to get to the top, you absolutely have to learn to  work hard.

 

Whatever business you are with, if you want to be successful you need to learn working hard. Being away from home, your family, your friends, being on the road so much.  There is a lot, and I think they are open, it’s just the stage they are at. Learning their life as tennis pros. Both are very young Laura, 18, Heather ,19. I think they both have exciting future ahead of them. But you know, there is no rush.

 

 

Q: How is the support for tennis in Great Britain?

 

JM: I think very good, obviously we have a wealthy governing body, it’s a grand slam nation. They have a big budget they can spend on developing players so they are able to support their players with a lot more opportunities than smaller countries can. So I think, they are able to help, and if British players are good enough and choose to train at the National Tennis Center, they can take advantage of the great facilities there, and their coaching staff. But if they choose not to do that, then they get a lump sum of money to spend on their choice of coaches and other expenses and so forth, and the amount varies, depends on the level and stage the player is at.

 

I think the LTA is in a position to give very good support to better players because it can, and is able to. I think all of the big Slam nations are like that, because they make a lot of money from the Grand Slam, and lot of the money go to the development and they are able to support their players much better than smaller nations can.

 

 

Q: Did you invite some sports students from Stirling University to come to Sweden with the team?

 

JM: Yes, we are taking ten students from the Stirling University, where i work, which is five miles from where we live in Dunblane, and the first indoor tennis center in Scotland, was built there. We are taking to Sweden 10 students from Stirling University to be like a cheer leading team for the fed cup. They are all Sports Developments students, so they will learn from being part of this whole experience, and so again, you are educating young people and giving them opportunities. They will have the right exposure to our website, doing fun tweets, things like that. 

***

 

The winner between Sweden and Great Britain will earn promotion into World Group II – the second tier of the FedCup.

 

Great Britain will play Sweden in Borashallen, Boras, Sweden

Date: 21 Apr – 22 Apr

 

Swedish team: Sofia Arvidsson, Johanna Larsson, Hilda Melander, Ellen Allgurin

 

Great Britain: Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson, Laura Robson

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