Serbian Fed Cup captain Dejan Vranes chooses teenager Bojana Jovanovski to play singles instead of former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in its away playoff tie Saturday against the Slovak Republic.
Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, who is ranked No. 28, will open against No. 58 Jovanovski, followed by Slovak and No. 32 Daniela Hantuchova against No. 17 Ana Ivanovic. Had No. 8 Jankovic been called upon, she would have faced Hantuchova, whom she is 4-3 against and defeated the last time they played on clay, at the 2010 French Open. However, Jankovic also lost to Hantuchova last year, in Fed Cup, on clay. Interestingly, Hantuchova also beat Jovanovski in the same tie last year, which was won by the Slovaks.
“My opinion is this is the best combination for Saturday,” Vranes told Fedcup.com
Former French Open champion Ivanovic and former French Open semifinalist Cibulkova have only met once, indoors in Moscow in 2008, in a tight match that Cibulkova won. Jankovic may play the reverse singles on Sunday.
"I said when the Serbian nomination was announced that they had a very strong team and that we weren’t talking about just two players, but three because I think Bojana has had a great year this year and is the same threat as the first two,” Slovak captain Matej Liptak said. "I don’t know what the reason is—maybe it’s some injury, sickness—I don’t know—maybe tactics.”
Jankovic added: “For now I respect the captain’s decision,” she said. “The most important thing is that we support each other."
In other Fed Cup lineup surprises, Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev has chosen Svetlana Kuznetsova in singles over teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whom is having a better year than the slumping two-time Grand Slam champion. Russia is facing two-time defending champion Italy at home in a World Group semifinal. Kuznetsova will take on Roberta Vinci in the second match. Russia’s Vera Zvonareva will face Sara Errani in the first one. Italy is without its two best players, Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta.
Belgium is facing the Czech Republic at home in the other World Group semifinal. The home squad is without top player Kim Clijsters, so will send veteran Kirsten Flipkens to face top Czech Petra Kvitova on an indoor hard court, followed by Yanina Wickmayer against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
In the World Group playoffs, the U.S. will send rookie Christina McHale to face top German Andrea Petkovic on clay in Stuttgart. The U.S.' highest-ranked player on the team, Melanie Oudin, will face Julia Goerges in the second match. Oudin bested Goerges last month on a hard court in Miami.
French captain Nicola Escude has chosen Virginie Razzano and Aravane Rezai to face Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues away on clay over Alize Cornet.
Australia is playing at home on outdoor clay against a weakened Ukrainian team, which is missing the Bondarenko sisters. Australia is also missing two of its top players in Sam Stosur and Jelena Dokic, but still has Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova.—Matthew Cronin