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| Team USA / Celebrating its victory over France. (L-R) Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, captain Kathy Rinaldi. |
It seems only fitting that the two most successful – and dominant – teams in the history of the Fed Cup competition, the United States and the Czech Republic, will decide this year's championship later this year.
The Czech Republic, which has won five the past seven Fed Cup titles, will host defending champion United States on November 10-11, likely in Prague. The Americans have captured 18 championships – most in Fed Cup history – and are looking to add to their impressive trophy collection. (The Fed Cup is the women's equivalent to the men's Davis Cup.)
"I think all the credit goes to the players," said U.S. team captain Kathy Rinaldi, who took over Team USA in 2017 and is undefeated in five Fed Cup ties. "They played some great tennis. We had some great matches and I think that really stands out."
After her tie-clinching win, Keys said that she was "really happy to get the win. Obviously, Sloane playing some great matches and getting that final win is really, really special."
Team USA has reached back-to-back Fed Cup finals for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2009-10 and last won consecutive Fed Cup titles in 1999-2000.
Meanwhile, the 10-time Fed Cup champion Czech Republic moved into the final round for the sixth time in the last eight years with an impressive 4-1 road victory over Germany in Stuttgart. "It was a very tough tie," Czech Republic team captain Petr Pala said after his team's triumph. "It was an outstanding performance from each of the (singles) winners. ... The tennis was unbelievable."
Pala's team is anchored soundly by World No. 10 Petra Kvitova and No. 6 Karolina Pliskova at singles. Against Germany, Kvitova beat both No. 11 Julia Goerges and No. 12 Angelique Kerber without dropping a set for her 29th and 30th Fed Cup rubber wins. Pliskova is 13-4 in her Fed Cup singles career. The Czech Republic doubles team with be very formidable with Barbora Strycova and Katerina Siniakova paired together. Both are ranked in the Top 20 in the world.
"They've shown the last five years they are the best," German team captain Jens Gerlach said of the Czech Republic team after Sunday's tie.
During his weekly The Tennis Podcast, co-host David Law of BBC5 Live gave props to Kvitova. "Petra Kvitova was in just the most devastating form," he said. "She absolutely thrashed Julia Goerges and Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart. I think it will be a very interesting final at the end of the year."
Like the Czech Republic, Team USA has an abundance of talent to draw upon. "I've always said that's the toughest part about being a captain is looking at the depth and looking at all of the players," said Rinaldi. "Hopefully, everybody is available and we're looking forward to it." Whether the Williams sisters – No. 8 Venus and former No. 1 Serena – will be a part of Team USA for the Fed Cup final remains to be decided. While either would be a welcome addition to an already elite lineup, the current quartet of players that beat France in the semifinals – Stephens, Keys, Vandeweghe and former No. 1 doubles player Bethanie Mattek-Sands – are all great competitors who want to win.
While there's a lot of time between now and the November final to finalize her team, Rinaldi looks forward to the challenge of facing the Czech Republic. The U.S. owns a 10-2 career win-loss record against the Czech Republic in all Fed Cup meetings. "We know going into the final is going to be tough," she said. "Czech Republic has tremendous depth as well. They have had a lot of success, so it should be very interesting."
Cover photo: U.S. Fed Cup team by Ashley Marshall/USTA.
A version of this blog post first appeared in Tennis TourTalk (www.tennis-tourtalk.com).
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