AUSTRALIA CHASES EIGHTH FED CUP TITLE THIS WEEKEND ON TENNIS CHANNEL
French Open Champion and World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty Leads Australia Against France in Attempt to Win First Title since 1974
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7, 2019 – Tennis Channel will have exclusive, live coverage of the 2019 Fed Cup championship between Australia and France in Perth, Australia, this weekend, with telecasts Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9. This marks the last year of Fed Cup’s current format, played during multiple weekends throughout the year. Starting in 2020, the Fed Cup will be contested in a one-time, 12-nation event from April 14-19.
French Open champion and World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will anchor seven-time Fed Cup champion Australia as it attempts to capture its first title since 1974. Former French Open doubles champions Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia will lead the charge for two-time Fed Cup champion France.
The year-ending competition in Australia will consist of two singles matches on Saturday, and two singles matches and a doubles match Sunday (live to U.S. audiences on Friday and Saturday, respectively). Tennis Channel will offer live coverage each day beginning at 10 p.m. ET. In Fed Cup head-to-head competition, the country that wins at least three of the weekend’s five matches captures the Fed Cup title. Sportscasters Todd Woodbridge (@toddwoodbridge) and Sam Groth (@SamGrothTennis), both former Australian Davis Cup players, will call the championship matches with former tennis stars Jelena Dokic and Casey Dellacqua (@caseydellacqua), who were once teammates on the Australian Fed Cup team.
Tennis Channel’s live Fed Cup Final coverage is as follows (all time ET):
Friday, Nov. 8:
10 p.m. -Singles#1 (followed by Singles #2)
Saturday, Nov. 9:
10 p.m. – Singles #3 (followed by Singles #4 and Doubles)
Australia holds a 5-1 advantage over France. However, France won the most recent meeting in 2000 in Moscow. The Australian team’s last victory over the French came in 1971 when it won 3-0 in the semifinal. Australia is the third-most successful nation on the all-time list of Fed Cup champions, behind the United States (18) and Czech Republic (11).
France earned its spot in this weekend’s match-up after beating Romania 3-2 in its semifinal round and is in its first final since 2016. The French were crowned Fed Cup champions in both 1997 and 2003. France’s captain Julien Benneteau will lead the same squad that defeated Romania: Garcia, Mladenovic, Alize Cornet, Fiona Ferro and Pauline Parmentier.
Australia enters this weekend’s championship for the first time since 1993, after a close 3-2 semifinal victory over Belarus in Brisbane, Australia. The team is captained by Alicia Molik and features Barty, seven-time Grand Slam champion Samantha Stosur, Ajla Tomljanovic, Astra Sharma and Priscilla Hon.
