Anne Keothavong gathers strongest team ahead of Fed Cup clash vs Kazakhstan
Competing at home for the first time since May 1993, Great Britan's Fed Cup took full advantage of the packed crowd at the University of Bath this February, beating Slovenia, Greece, Hungary and Serbia in the Group I Europe / Africa Zone B Promotional Play-Off final and securing the World Group II Play-Off tie against Kazakhstan. The Brits will host their rivals at the Copper Box Arena at Queen Elizabeth Park in London between April 20-21, with the captain Anne Keothavong calling the strongest possible team, hoping for another great result at home delivered by Johanna Konta, Katie Boulter, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan. Motivated to reach the World Gropu for the first time in 26 years, both the captain and players are excited to show their fighting spirit in front of the partisan crowd and extend the winning streak in the last three years, conquering 11 out of 13 Fed Cup ties since 2017.
Katie Boulter and Johanna Konta were the heroines in February, scoring ten singles wins combined to keep Great Britain safe in all five ties and delivering pretty much identical performances. For example, they both needed the deciding set tie break to dismiss the Hungarian rivals and also holding nerves versus Serbia in the last match to propel their country into the Play-Off where they should beat Kazakhstan and achieve the best Fed Cup result in more than quarter of a century.
Anne Keothavong said: “I’m delighted to name our strongest possible team to represent Great Britain at Copper Box Arena in ten days against Kazakhstan. It promises to be a memorable occasion as we aim to reach the World Group level for the first time since 1993, staged against the iconic backdrop of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London, a place that has special significance for me. There is little to separate the two teams in terms of rankings, but I’m confident the home fans will give all our players an inspirational lift just like we had in Bath earlier in February. It’s also very important to our team to open up our sport to new fans and increase awareness of tennis at different times of the year.”
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Z79Ofe
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