BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP)—Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia will face Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in the opening singles of the Fed Cup derby in the Slovak capital of Bratislava on Saturday.
Dominika Cibulkova will play the second singles for the host against Australian Open quarterfinalist Petra Kvitova on hard courts at Sibamac Arena.
“Our goal is to win both opening matches, that would be great,” the 32nd-ranked Hantuchova said. She is 1-1 against No. 30-ranked Safarova.
The Slovaks, who won the competition in 2002, are returning to the World Group after a seven-year absence while the Czechs reached the semifinals in the last two years.
No. 18-ranked Kvitova easily beat the 27th-ranked Cibulkova 6-0, 6-4 in their only previous match in January in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International, a tournament she went on to win.
In Sunday’s reverse singles, Hantuchova plays Kvitova before Cibulkova takes on Safarova.
In the final doubles, Hantuchova is set to team up with Magdalena Rybarikova to face Kveta Peschke and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
The winner of the best-of-five tie will face Belgium or the United States in the semifinals in April.
Slovakia has lost all three previous encounters against the Czech Republic.
The two countries formed one state—Czechoslovakia—until 1993.