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U.S. vs. Latvia 2020 Fed Cup Qualifying Begins on Friday

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February 6, 2020 – (L to R) Team USA members Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Alison Riske, Serena Williams, Coco Gauff, Sofia Kenin and Captain Kathy Rinaldi at the draw ceremony prior to the 2020 Fed Cup tie against Latvia at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. Photo courtesy of the USTA.

 

U.S. vs. Latvia 2020 Fed Cup Qualifying Begins on Friday

(February 6, 2020) Three major champions will be taking the court on Friday night to kick off this Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Qualifying tie between the U.S. and Latvia at Angel Of The Winds Arena in Everett, Wash.

Australian Open champion and world No. 7 Sofia Kenin will play No. 41 and 2018 US Open semifinalist Anastasija Sevastova in the night’s first singles match when play begins at 7:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET). The second singles match will follow between world No. 9 and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and world No. 40 and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Saturday’s reverse singles matches will then pit Kenin vs. Ostapenko and Williams vs. Sevastova, with doubles between Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Alison Riske and Ostapenko and Sevastova to follow if necessary.

The first team to win three matches wins the weekend. If one team clinches in the third or fourth singles match, Saturday’s schedule may be amended. The winner advances to the 2020 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals April 14-19 in Budapest, Hungary – a new format for the Finals similar to the World Cup in which 12 nations converge on one venue to compete for the title.

Captains cannot make substitutions to Friday’s lineup but can for Saturday’s singles and doubles.

This is the first meeting in Fed Cup between the U.S. and Latvia, which has mostly played in lower levels of the competition since it first began competing in Fed Cup in 1992. Both nations contested World Group Playoff ties in 2019 – the U.S. defeating Switzerland and Latvia falling to Germany – but both were placed into the Qualifying pool for the 2020 Finals after the ITF adopted the new Fed Cup format last summer.

The Americans won their record 18th Fed Cup title in 2017 and reached the Final again in 2018. The U.S. is 152-38 all-time in Fed Cup ties and 42-7 at home.

There isn’t a robust history between Friday night’s singles combatants. Williams and Sevastova have played only once before, in the semifinals of the 2018 US Open, a match won by Williams, 6-3, 6-0. Kenin and Ostapenko have never played before.

 

The matches will air live in the United States on Tennis Channel.

 

         ORDER OF PLAY

 

DAY/LOCAL TIME

 

Friday, 7:30 p.m. PT (10:30 p.m. ET)

Sofia Kenin (USA) v. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

Serena Williams (USA) v. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

 

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m. ET)

Sofia Kenin (USA) v. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

Serena Williams (USA) v. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Alison Riske (USA) v.

Jelena Ostapenko/Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)

 

 

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