Fed Cup: Stosur’s comeback – who will play for their country in 2018?

Davis Cup and Fed Cup thrive on the presence of the great stars of tennis. After all, a former US Open winner will return next year – albeit not in the world group.

Predictions for the two major team competitions in tennis are difficult and impossible somewhere between: the times when all the top players have fought for the places in the respective national teams are long gone. Individual needs are in the foreground, especially at a time when there are no Olympic Games coming up – and thus no obligatory participation in Davis or Fed Cup.

Caroline Garcia, for example, had already decided before the beginning of 2017 that she would not be available to the French team. A decision that turned out to be perfect for Garcia, especially towards the end of the season, as she managed to secure her first participation in the WTA finals in Singapore with a brilliant finish. And France didn’t do any harm, the team of Yannick Noah easily mastered the lap of honour over the relegation.

Noah led the French men to the title a few days ago, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet were two former top ten players. Lille’s best man of the weekend, David Goffin, is also currently on the Bel Etage. In the women’s singles, the winner is 2017 USA, and it was Coco Vandeweghe who won the US team in Minsk against Belarus. With Sloane Stephens, the tennis fans were able to watch the reigning US Open winner, but also a player who is still in search of constancy despite the greatest possible career success in New York City.

From a German point of view, Barbara Rittner was basically always allowed to plan with the strongest team during her time as head of the Fed Cup, even though Angelique Kerber did not travel to Hawaii in 2017. For the new captain Jens Gerlach, we’re off to Belarus for a tour with this year’s finalists. Gerlach will probably play with a new number-one player in Minsk – after all, Julia Görges took over the leading role from Kerber towards the end of the season. And the German team, with its two individual victories in the relegation duel against Ukraine, established itself in the highest division.

The planned expansion of the world group to 16 nations has been put on hold until further notice, countries with a great tennis tradition like Spain or Australia have to fight their way back to the top floor of the Fed Cup. The Australians seem to have a decent hand, after all, they enjoy a homeless life like the gentlemen at the start of the 2018 round. It is against Ukraine, whether with or without their top player Elina Svitolina will be wise.

The Australians themselves have a promising team to draw on, led by Ashleugh Barty, who has recently been ranked among the top 20 women in the world. And the moral compass Sam Stosur. In 2017, the 33-year-old US Open winner of 2011 had resigned from the Fed Cup, an injury would have made her bets more difficult anyway. Now, however, Stosur has once again interpreted the signs of the times in such a way that their presence in the Australian team would be of mutual benefit.

“I would love to be part of the Fed Cup again,” said Stosur to The Courier-Mail,”We have a fantastic team and she will soon be talking to captain Alicia Molik. An example that should be followed: after all, the team competitions depend on the prominence of the individual participants.