The Americans too are without their top players in world number one Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens. PHOTO: FILE
Deprived of top singles players Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta, the Italians, Fed Cup winners three times in the last five years, will instead look to 40th world ranked Karin Knapp and 84th ranked Camilia Giorgi. The Americans too are without their top players in world number one Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens, with youngsters Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Christina McHale and Lauren Davis getting the nod instead. The dearth of top players in Cleveland is symptomatic of the problems facing the Fed Cup, held in close proximity to the Australian Open, with only one player ranked in the world top 10 – Germany’s Angelique Kerber – in action for her country.
Opening the way time wise will be the tie between Australia and Russia in Hobart, Tasmania, but again the Russians, losing finalists last year, have been shorn of their big names, including the likes of Maria Sharapova.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2014.
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