Top players to miss US Fed Cup final against Czechs

white plains — Four of the top five US women in the WTA singles rankings will skip the country’s Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic, including both Williams sisters — Serena and Venus — and Sloane Stephens.

Instead, the roster announced for the defending champions by captain Kathy Rinaldi on Wednesday includes No. 35 Danielle Collins, No. 48 Sofia Kenin and No. 63 Alison Riske in singles, along with Nicole Melichar, who is ranked 15th in doubles.

Riske was a member of the US squad that won the Fed Cup title over Belarus last year in Minsk but this is a first Fed Cup nomination for Collins, Kenin and Melichar.

No. 6 Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up, is sitting out the Nov. 10-11 matches on an indoor hard court at Prague, as are No. 15 Serena Williams, a 23-time major champion, and No. 40 Venus Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam singles titles.

No. 16 Madison Keys, who lost to Stephens in last year’s final at Flushing Meadows, also will miss the Fed Cup final.

The Czech Republic seek their sixth title in eight years with a roster that includes two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and 2016 US Open runnerup Karolina Pliskova, who are both ranked in the top 10. The team also includes Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Strycova.

All are expected to see action in the best-of-five match series inside Prague’s O2 Arena.

The US have dominated the Czechs in Fed Cup play posting a 10-2 record. The nations have met twice in the final — with Czechoslovakia winning in 1985 and the US winning in 1986. —