High stakes tennis meets the Copper Box Arena as Great Britain take on Kazakhstan in Day 2 of their Fed Cup World Group II Play-Off. Matches start at 12 noon.
Great Britain continue a weekend date with destiny in their Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II Play-Off against Kazakhstan. The mission is simple – win the tie and GB will return to the World Group in 2020 for the first time since 1993. For more on the history of the Fed Cup and how it works see below*.
Captain Anne Keothavong (pictured left) has named her squad to represent GB with Johanna Konta, Katie Boulter, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan returning to action two months on from their epic triumph in Bath which saw them win all ten of their rubbers played as part of the Europe/Africa Group I competition.
Today’s schedule features two singles matches and one doubles match (subject to dead rubber policy**).
A sell-out crowd is expected for what promises to be a noisy, emotional and memorable tennis tie in east London which stages an international team tennis tie for the first ever time.
Matches start at 12pm.
Tickets in advance are available via the ‘Get Tickets’ link.
Tickets on the day. A sell-out is expected. Checking the LTA Twitter feed before travelling is recommended.
What is the Fed Cup?
The Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of women’s tennis. It offers players from around the world the chance to represent their country and, with more than 100 nations involved, is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport.
For the first time since 1993, Great Britain hosted a Fed Cup tie at home after being awarded the event by the International Tennis Federation. The Europe/Africa Group I tie took place at University of Bath from 6-9 February. Packed crowds cheered on the Great Britain team as they came out on top against Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. This means that Great Britain will now face Kazakhstan at home in the upcoming World Group II Play-Off, taking place 20-21 April 2019. The Play-Off will mark the first ever head-to-head between the two nations.
*How does the Fed Cup work?
The Fed Cup is structured with an eight-nation World Group and an eight-nation World Group II. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional Zones depending on their location – Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa. Great Britain are currently in Europe/Africa Zone Group I, and are aiming to win a return to the World Group for the first time since 1993.
Promotion and relegation between World Group II and the regional Zones is decided by play-off ties, with losers from the first round of World Group II matches taking on the winners of the regional Zone Group I ties for a place in World Group II the following year.
**Dead Rubber Policy
For all Ties in the World Group and World Group II;
With respect to the second day, if the third singles decides the outcome of the Tie, the fourth singles match will not be played and the dead rubber doubles match will be played instead. If the fourth singles match decides the outcome of the Tie the dead rubber doubles match will be played. A dead doubles match will be played according to the “No-Ad” scoring method set out in the Rules of Tennis. If a dead doubles match reaches one set all, the third set will be a match tie break (10 points).
* Fed Cup background courtesy of the LTA website.