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Fed Cup 2013 (GO TEAM GB!)

15K views 252 replies 24 participants last post by  pesto 
#1 ·
The draw is out!

Team GB are in Group B and will play Portugal, Hungary and Bosnia Herzegovina.

Portugal don't have any particularly good players other than MLDB and Koehler and Heather/Laura should be too good for them.

Hungary could be tricky with Babos, Czink and Arn but again, GB should be too strong.

Nothing really needs to be said about Bosnia Herzegovina :lol:

If they are to win that group (which they should!) they will play the winner of Group D (Slovenia, Netherlands, Bulgaria or Luxembourg).


What a great opportunity for Team GB :cheer:

Go Heather, Laura, Anne and Johanna! Only a few weeks to wait :cheer:
 
#40 ·
Portugal has a 1 woman team so I think Judy should rest either Watson or Robson here from singles.
Well she doesn't xD Laura up first to play Moura followed by Hev v MLdB. Laura and Joko down for doubles atm though obvs that could change.

Be interesting to see how Hev does against Michelle, she still hasn't really found her form yet, despite her good AO run. Even though Michelle is not playing well atm, indeed managed to allow Babos to break her 9 match losing streak, she still has the potential to be tricky....
 
#49 ·
Nice recovery girls :yeah:

So what are we thinking vs Hungary? For Babos I always feel that a player who breaks a big losing streak by winning back to back matches is a dangerous one. And Arn was the player I was most concerned about before the tie, she's capable of an upset or two.

I reckon Judy should (and probably will) stick to her guns and play Hev and Laura for singles and doubles if necessary.
 
#51 · (Edited)
So what are we thinking vs Hungary? For Babos I always feel that a player who breaks a big losing streak by winning back to back matches is a dangerous one. And Arn was the player I was most concerned about before the tie, she's capable of an upset or two.

I reckon Judy should (and probably will) stick to her guns and play Hev and Laura for singles and doubles if necessary.
I disagree. Arn is tricky for any of our girls, and not a great match up for Laura. Yes Hev beat Babos recently but Hev's form is poor atm and I agree Babos could be dangerous after beating MLdB.

I would play Joko as #2 jsut see what she can do against Arn and put Laura in as our 'banker' against Babos. Not that you can guarantee Laura will win but I would be reasonably confident she would. Heather's confidence can not be great at the min she wasn't even that close to Michelle today. I think we will win the doubles against Hungary (especially if we play Hev and Laura) so we need to get that singles win and I think the best chance of that is Laura v Babos. I love Hev but I think if we play her in singles we lose tomorrow. Let's hope im wrong.

EDIT: Plus if Laura loses to Arn (wouldn't be surprised) that's a lot of pressure on Hev to win when she knows she isn't playing well.
 
#52 ·
I think I slightly agree with you, we have to remember that Babos is a player that Laura and Hev have played numerous times and know so well. Arn is certainly a crafty player but I would expect Laura and Hev to be beating her on their day.

With doubles, we need to play Laura and Hev. Laura and Joko are a good team but the former are our best doubles team.
I would play Babos vs Robson too, I think Laura seems to be playing pretty well atm and she'll bring her best against Timea.
The other singles i'm struggling with but I dont think Joko would be mentally ready to have this resting on her shoulders. I think Judy will play Hev in at least one of the singles and tbh i do expect Hev to beat Arn, despite her form, i'm sure she'll claw out her best :shrug:
 
#53 ·
I think I slightly agree with you, we have to remember that Babos is a player that Laura and Hev have played numerous times and know so well. Arn is certainly a crafty player but I would expect Laura and Hev to be beating her on their day.

With doubles, we need to play Laura and Hev. Laura and Joko are a good team but the former are our best doubles team.
I would play Babos vs Robson too, I think Laura seems to be playing pretty well atm and she'll bring her best against Timea.
The other singles i'm struggling with but I dont think Joko would be mentally ready to have this resting on her shoulders. I think Judy will play Hev in at least one of the singles and tbh i do expect Hev to beat Arn, despite her form, i'm sure she'll claw out her best :shrug:
Yes but due to Fed cup rules out of the two players nominated to play singles the player with the highest ranking must play the opposite teams player of the highest ranking. So if Laura and Hev both play singles Hev will have to play Babos as she is higher ranked. Laura can only play Babos if Hev is dropped from singles (she could still play doubles). Which is annoying! Cos I agree I think Hev has a better chance against Arn than Laura does. Hence I would put Jo in as the number 2 behind Laura.

Despite all this discussion I still expect Judy will stick with Hev and Laura, its a big call to drop Hev and Judy stuck with Anne last year after two poor matches from her.
 
#55 ·
Another way to look at it is that Hungary don't have too many options. Babos and Arn are the two singles players and Marosi is the doubles specialist, who will presumably pair up with Babos to make their strongest team. Babos will be expecting to play counter puncher Watson, Arn expecting to play big hitting lefty Laura. GB could let them believe this until the last possible minute and change the line up to Laura v Babos and Anne/JoKo v Arn. Completely different outlook to both matches with minimal time to prepare.
 
#56 ·
I think Judy has just got to go with Heather and Laura from now on. If they lose a match without their 2 best players in singles then she'll get heavily critisised and probably will have to resign from the role. Robson is on good form and Watson knows how to win even when not playing well. If one of the other 2 GB girls were ranked 70 or something and on form it would be a tougher decision, but not with them both in the 140's.
 
#57 ·
I think Judy has just got to go with Heather and Laura from now on. If they lose a match without their 2 best players in singles then she'll get heavily critisised and probably will have to resign from the role. Robson is on good form and Watson knows how to win even when not playing well. If one of the other 2 GB girls were ranked 70 or something and on form it would be a tougher decision, but not with them both in the 140's.
Surely as captain that is what she's there for? To decide on the team best suited to beating the team in front of them. That will vary depending on the players the opposition has. I doubt she would ever have to resign, for a start Fed cup is hardly high profile in Britain...

BIB: we really should win the doubles, especially with Hev and Laura playing. Therefore the objective is to pick the best players that will allow us to win one of the two singles. It's better to win one of them and lose the other easily than to lose two close matches. Which is what I feel personally will happen but then I'm a pessimist :lol:

And this isn't to knock Hev in any way, she's shown so many times before she's a fighter and I'm sure her form will pick up again soon.

Of course this will all go out the window if Laura just beat Arn :lol:
 
#62 ·
The treatment obviously helped her- thank god :lol:

Looks like Heather's going to get the win as well!

Is there any way we could not win this group providing Heather wins? It looks like we'd play Bulgaria in the play offs, which is winnable.
 
#66 ·
well done to Heather and Laura, should they even bother with the doubles match? can't they forfeit it or something? they've won the group regardless of what happens in that match and it might tire Laura and Heather out and they should probably be in top shope when they go up against Bulgaria tomorrow.
 
#71 ·
well done to Heather and Laura, should they even bother with the doubles match? can't they forfeit it or something? they've won the group regardless of what happens in that match and it might tire Laura and Heather out and they should probably be in top shope when they go up against Bulgaria tomorrow.
No because you get points for each win and it matters for seeding.


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