[ajmo!]

Well fuck that chance. She's not the only player ever that didn't came. Many others did it more times and had no credit, she has some. And btw, she said she was injured and played Midland without training, just to get some matches. I believe 26 26 to Brengle does seem like she was injured

[ma re]

Nice to see someone opening this thread (kudos to "someone"), cause after all these years we finally should have a really decent team in 2013.

That said, I'm still not convinced, although I am hopeful, that we'll get out of the zonal mud soon. Achieving that is no small feat, as there are many good teams in the same bucket and some pretty great teams struggle for years to advance to WG2. It would be fantastic if our girls could make it, but that'll naturally depend on many factors - team selection being one of the most important.

Somehow I think that we can't really count on several girls (Lucic, Jurak, maybe Abramovic too), but that still leaves us with a chance for a strong team if both Petra and Donna show up. Mrdeza could be a valuable addition in weaker encounters and Ajla, if healthy, could play an important role as well. Vrljic and Savic are IMO very inconsistent, Mekovec too inexperienced and the other girls are just not on a level which I'd at the moment allow in the FC team. If Jurak doesn't show up (very probable IMO), we could get a pretty good doubles player in Pandzic I think (has a 100k title from '08), so it'll definately be interesting to see what Majoli decides.

[ma re]

Ana Konjuh looks to be in, based on what her coach said these days, which gives us at least something to work with.

I don't know exactly when will the draw be made, but looking at the list of participants in our zone you can't help but think that Romania, Bulgaria, Netherlands and Great Britain are probably the strongest candidates for winning their respective groups - assuming none of them will be drawn in the same one.

[tennismaster8820]

^^
If Petra gets there in good form she can beat any player from those countries and then doubles would decide.

[croat123]

i think vekic would have a shot against most number 2 players as well...

[ma re]

Looks like it's Martic, Vekic, Mrdeza and Konjuh this year, although I can't find it officially anywhere. If it proves to be true, sounds very good. That is, of course, assuming Petra gets to a good start in Melbourne and that Vekic's form remains constant. Both Vekic and Konjuh can be good in doubles, which is great cause Petra will probably get to play a lot in singles (as is expected). Mrdeza might be an interesting addition this year, cause she is known for giving a decent resistance and often getting the job done against girls ranked about the same as she is.

Really looking forward to February, but first thing's first...Melbourne. With all four Down Under it'll give us a better idea of what can we expect in FC.

[juan pablo]

http://www.fedcup.com/en/results/gro...rica/2013.aspx

[juan pablo]

Group A
Austria: Tamira Paszek, Yvonne Meusburger, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Nicole Rottmann, Jurgen Waber (captain)
Belarus: Olga Govortsova, Ilona Kremen, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Ekaterina Dzehalevich, Tatiana Poutchek (captain) vika wd
Georgia: Sofia Shapatava, Sofia Kvatsabaia, Ekaterine Gorgodze, Margalita Chakhnashvili (playing captain)
Croatia: Petra Martic, Donna Vekic, Tereza Mrdeza, Ana Konjuh, Iva Majoli (captain)

[ma re]

Well IMO Belarussians are the favs even without Vika, but we actually might stand a chance if Petra gets it together by then. But since that's not very likely to happen, we'll probably end up 2nd in the group and miss the chance to play for a place in WG2.

[TeamUla]

Paszek also withdrew. I think we have a chance to win the group

[ma re]

I wish I could be as optimistic. There are still many moonballers in the field and those can easily prove lethal for our youngsters. Of course, having Iva there will help them calm down and focus, but still it's quite a lot to ask of them.

Here's how our girls stand against this field (minus Paszek and her eventual replacement):

Mrdeza - Meusburger 1:1
Mrdeza - Mayr 0:1
Mrdeza - Kremen 1:0
Mrdeza - Shapatava 1:0
Mrdeza - Kvatsabaia 1:1
TOTAL 4:3

Martic - Mayr 2:2
Martic - Meusburger 1:1
Martic - Govortsova 0:1
Martic - Dzehalevich 0:1
Martic - Shapatava 1:0
TOTAL 4:5

Donna and Ana never played against any of these to my knowledge.

OK, some of these matches took place years ago, but it's still not nice to see some of the h2h's, especially in the light of Petra's recent form. We also don't have a great and experienced doubles player other than Petra. Donna never plays doubles now and Ana still hasn't played a professional doubles match.

Still, hoping for the best of course

[tennismaster8820]

I thought Martic withdrew from Fed Cup.
I've read it somewhere...

[ma re]

Really?! Try to remember where - A.S.A.P.!!!

[ma re]

Found it (and can't believe I missed it!)...http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Teni...6/Default.aspx

Minor knee problem, but she is out of practice for at least two weeks, even longer away from competitive matches

That much for our chances of winning the group.

[tennismaster8820]

^^
Well she wouldn't be much of help anyway in such condition.
I think Donna, Tereza and Ana can still give us some hope.
Will any player replace Petra???