Fed Cup arrives in Texas as the USA host Switzerland in San Antonio
The upcoming Fed Cup World Group Play-Off clash between the USA and Switzerland will take place on an indoor hard court in San Antonio, Texas, between April 21-22, the USTA announced on Tuesday. The USA Fed Cup team have never competed in Texas before and they will host the Swiss at the San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum, hoping to stay unbeaten against the European rivals (8-0) and secure the spot in World Group I in 2020 as well. San Antonio is the 30th different venue of the Fed Cup tie in the States while Texas is the 17th different country to welcome the best American female players.
The 18-time Fed Cup champions had won 41 out of 48 ties on the home soil, trying to bounce back from a tough loss against Australia in Asheville in February when Ashleigh Barty grabbed three rubbers to send her country into the semi-final. The USA and Switzerland had played eight times in the past, seven on neutral venues and once in the USA back in 1976 in Philadelphia when Rosie Casals and Billie Jean King led the USA towards the win. This will be the first meeting between these two countries since 1993 when the Americans won 3-0 in Frankfurt.
"Texas has such a rich history with the sport of tennis, and we’re very excited to bring Fed Cup to San Antonio for the first time,” said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Patrick Galbraith. “This competition not only gives us a chance to bring world-class tennis to San Antonio but to also engage with the community and our local partners to use this platform to grow the game in the area.”
“We’re thrilled San Antonio has been chosen to host the first Fed Cup competition in Texas,” said President and CEO of San Antonio Sports Russ Bookbinder. “We’re confident in our team’s ability to stage premier events and feel San Antonio’s well-earned reputation for hospitality will make this a first-rate experience for the players, USTA and fans alike.”
“There have been times where we’ve planned for this moment, and they just haven’t occurred because someone in another part of the world lost, and we didn’t meet up with who we thought we might,” Jeffrey Ryan, the USTA’s senior director of team events. “It just came that this was the right time and the place to be. The schedules are being made. That news will evolve over the next couple months. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a player, male or female, that says when they have an opportunity to represent their country, that they wouldn’t enjoy it.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2tGLgLA
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