Britain face tough Slovakia trip in Fed Cup
Great Britain’s women face another difficult away trip in the Fed Cup, as they play for the right to compete in the inaugural finals week in Budapest next April.
The draw has pitted Anne Keothavong’s team against Slovakia, who have three top-100 players: Viktoria Kuzmova (ranked 54), Dominika Cibulkova (68) and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (96).
The tie will be staged on the weekend of Feb 7-8, immediately after the Australian Open, and it seems likely that the Slovakians will choose an indoor clay court. In theory, Great Britain should have access to world No 16 Johanna Konta, and will also be hopeful of fielding Katie Boulter (now down at No 220 after four months of inactivity), assuming that her long-term back injury heals in time.
This is the latest in a string of challenging away ties dating back to 2012. Under the old format, former captain Judy Murray and Keothavong, who took over in 2017, each earned two World Group playoffs. Unfortunately, they were drawn away from home each time, and did not manage to convert.
The sequence seemed to have been broken this year. Great Britain finally drew a home tie, against Kazakhstan in April, which they won in dramatic style, with Boulter exacerbating her back condition as she claimed the decisive point. But the format then changed, and the result was rendered irrelevant.
Kazakhstan are also involved in the eight play-offs, which involve the teams ranked between No 5 and No 19 in the world, along with the United States.
“Now we know that we will face Slovakia we can look towards preparing with excellence,” said Keothavong.