Pliskova to lead Czechs against Switzerland

PRAGUE: World No. 5 Karolina Pliskova will lead the Czech Republic against Switzerland in their first-round Fed Cup tie in Prague on Feb 10-11, the Czech team said.

Pliskova will team up with 24th-ranked Barbora Strycova, 29th-ranked two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and 30th-ranked Lucie Safarova on the hardcourt of Prague’s O2 Arena.

“It definitely won’t be an easy tie but I trust our team’s strength,” Pliskova, the 25-year-old Australian Open quarter-finalist, said on the team’s Facebook page.

Leading 6-1 in head-to-head encounters with Switzerland, the Czechs have won five out of the last seven Fed Cup editions, on top of five trophies for former Czechoslovakia.

Switzerland beat the Czechs only in 1998 on the way to their only Fed Cup finals so far, which they eventually lost to Spain.

Their team was then spearheaded by Martina Hingis, the former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, who ended her career as player last year and who will travel to Prague as a Swiss coach, accord- ing to Czech media.

The Swiss have called up world number 42 Timea Bacsinszky, 72nd- ranked Belinda Bencic, Viktorija Golubic (109) and Jil Teichmann (135) for the tie, said the Fed Cup website.

“It will be tough because Belinda and Golubic play great tennis, but we’ll get ready,” said Strycova. — AFP