Serbia vs. Czech Republic: The battle begins on Saturday – Federation Cup 2012
Until 2011, Czech Republic was unable to gather any glory in the Federation Cup for over two decades. However, the last year’s Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova led a meagre side of her country to an emphatic team victory by defeating
the most versatile and talented squad of Russia in the final. Now, they are back in the business and aim at defending the title at their home soil against the Serbian side that will make a debut final appearance in the Federation Cup this year.
The squads for both teams are as under:
Serbia
Czech Republic
Ana Ivanovic
Petra Kvitova
Jelena Jankovic
Lucie Safarova
Bojana Jovanovski
Lucie Hradecka
Aleksandra Krunic
Andrea Hlavackova
Safarova commented in a pre-tie press conference, “Ana is a great player and Jelena as well, so both of the matches will be really tough but that's how it should be as this is the finals so I will try my best and try to get the
two points.”
Ivanovic stated, “It's going to be a tough match - I had a tough loss against her in Sydney so hopefully I can play better and get revenge. In this final tie every point is going to be important so I'm going to try my best every
point."
Kvitova was struggling to keep pace with time and be ready for the Federation Cup tie but she has confessed that she is fit for the contest. She withdrew from the Women Tennis Association Championships in Istanbul due to viral
illness in the previous week and worked extremely hard to get fit for the tie. She added, “I am feeling fine, I believe tomorrow everything will be as it should be.”
The contest will begin on Saturday and one of the two former world number ones, Ana Ivanovic, will take on the 17th ranked rival, Lucie Safarova, in the singles Round Rubber contest. The 12th ranked Ivanovic
won a head-to-head each in 2007 and 2008 against Safarova but lose two in 2009. She has also lost the only clash of the current season that took place in the Apia Sydney International. So, the revenge mission will be on her mind as she looks to power down
the lower ranked but extremely talented left-handed Czech.
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