Hingis looks to end 20-year Fed Cup wait

Martina Hingis looks to reach a first Fed Cup final in almost two decades when Switzerland face Belarus with the former world No.1 reveling in her role as the team’s “big sister.”

The 36-year-old five-time Grand Slam singles champion was just 17 when she and Switzerland were defeated 3-2 by Spain in the 1998 final. Hingis won both her singles rubbers in that tie but lost the key doubles.

Since then, she has retired and made two comebacks, carving out a successful career as a doubles specialist, even managing to claim a silver medal alongside compatriot Timea Bacsinszky at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Hingis will play just doubles in Minsk on Sunday although that could prove a decisive mission against a Belarus squad who are making their semifinal debut.

“In the Fed Cup, I am like the big sister now,” admitted Hingis. “My role is different these days but we are a strong team with a great spirit.”

Switzerland made the semifinals by defeating two-time champions France. The Swiss, playing in back-to-back Fed Cup semifinals, will start as the favorites. Bacsinszky is the tie’s top singles player, ranked at 22 in the world, with Viktorjia Golubic at 54. Injury-plagued Belinda Bencic is now down at 129 but was as high as seven in February 2016.

By contrast, Belarus’s top player is Aliaksandra Sasnovich, ranked 96 with Aryna Sabalenka at 125 and Olga Govortsova, contesting her 31st Fed Cup tie, down at 147.

The hosts, however, are on an eight-match winning streak in the Fed Cup.

In Tampa, the USA host defending champions Czech Republic, who have been winners 10 times – five in the last six seasons.

The USA, without the pregnant Serena Williams, will be led by Coco Vandeweghe, the world No.24 and 36th-ranked Lauren Davis. The team have not made the final in seven years.

The Czechs, bidding to reach a sixth final in seven years, are missing their four leading singles players, including world No.3 Karolina Pliskova and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who is recovering from fighting off a knife-wielding intruder in December.