Bianca Andreescu to miss Fed Cup tie vs Czech Republic
An 18-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu needed just three months to show her enormous talent and abilities, entering Auckland from outside the top-150 and cracking the top-25 after Miami! Bianca has won 20 out of 24 WTA main draw matches this year (more than 30 overall), catching the attention of the entire tennis world at Indian Wells where she won the title following back-to-back top-10 wins over Elina Svitolina and Angelique Kerber, becoming the youngster winner in the desert since Serena Williams. It was a breakthrough season for Andreescu right from the start, reaching the final in Auckland as a qualifier, winning a match at the Australian Open as well after passing three qualifying rounds, heading to Newport Beach where she won 125K Series event to crack the top-100 and gain confidence before February action.
Delivering two Fed Cup wins over the Netherlands, Bianca was the semi-finalist in Acapulco before that historical Indian Wells run that propelled her towards the best players in the world. Playing a lot of tennis since the start of the season, Bianca was forced to withdraw in the fourth round of Miami due to a shoulder injury that also forced her to skip the upcoming Fed Cup tie against the Czech Republic in Prostejov. The World Group Play-Off tie will take place between April 20-21 at National Tennis Centre in Prostejov on an indoor clay court and Andreescu was supposed to lead the Canadian squad against the hosts who will compete without Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova.
Despite giving her best to recover, the youngster has decided to skip the first Fed Cup tie since making a debut in 2017, winning ten out of 13 rubbers under the national flag and helping Canada conquering seven of the last eight ties. Thus, Rebecca Marino, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Gabriela Dabrowski and Sharon Fichman will take upon the Czech squad based upon Marketa Vondrousova, Karolina Muchova, Marie Bouzkova, Lucie Safarova and Barbora Krejickova. The Czech Republic and Canada have played six times so far and the European squad scored all six wins so far, never losing a rubber against Canada since 1987.
“The team is currently in preparation mode for this upcoming tie against the Czech Republic. Our players have all had some good results since the start of the year and we are hoping to capitalize on their momentum going into this match-up,” said Fed Cup captain Heidi El Tabakh. “We recognize that this tie represents a challenge for us as we are playing a great team who is proficient on a clay court surface. They are last year’s Fed Cup champions and we will be prepared for some tough matches.”
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Z3NAuL
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