MADRID, 31 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spain begins its participation in the new Billie Jean King Cup Finals this Monday, which will replace the Federation Cup finals since this year and will be played until November 6 at the O2 Arena in Prague, in which twelve applicants they will try to relieve the last champion, France.
Without Garbiñe Muguruza and Paula Badosa, both focused on the dispute of the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Sara Sorribes, Carla Suárez, Nuria Párrizas, Aliona Bolsava and Rebeka Masarova will be part of the Spanish team, which will debut this Monday (5:00 p.m.) at the Track 1 against Slovakia, their first rival in a demanding Group C that also includes the United States.
Those captained by Anabel Medina will have a single ‘Top 40′ of the WTA -Sorribes, number 37 in the world- and with two debutants in their ranks, but they will try to surprise in a ’round robin’ that will be played in the best of three matches , two for singles and one for doubles. The winner of each group will qualify for the semifinals, in which they will face A against C and B against D.
Thus, Sorribes will take the leadership left by Muguruza to dream of repeating the successes achieved by Spain in the Federation Cup in the nineties, when the hand of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez raised the five titles that the team treasures (1991 , 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998).
The appointment is also a big farewell for the Canarian Carla Suárez, who will leave professional tennis after having managed to return to the courts after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“The adaptation is being good, it is a hard and covered surface but the wooden platform that has been used in recent years makes the game slow down. So it is a hard court but not excessively fast,” explained Anabel Medina.
“It is a challenge for all the teams because it is the first time that we are going to compete with this new format. There are many differences; before you knew that you had five points and that you could overcome the second day, but now you have to give all your energy in each match, “added the captain.
Predictably, Sorribes and Suárez – who have not competed since the US Open – will face the individual matches of the first day against the Slovaks, who have Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, Kristina Kucova, Viktoria Kuzmova, Rebecca Sramkova and Tereza Mihalikova in their team.
The Americans, captained by Kathy Rinaldi and great dominators of the tournament with 18 wound, will have sensitive casualties such as Sofia Kenin -number 15 in the world-, Jessica Pegula -number 21-, Cori Gauff -number 24- and Jennifer Brady -number 25 -, and will be supported by Danielle Collins, Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe and Caroline Dolehide. The Spanish will face them on Wednesday.
The great women’s team tennis competition will return to action after a year without competition due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the suspension of the event in Budapest and which forced its celebration to be transferred to the capital of the Czech Republic.
In addition, from Spanish, Slovak and American, the current champion, France, the runner-up, Australia, as well as the Czech Republic, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Belarus, Russia and Switzerland will participate.