After the cancellations of the top 10 players Angelique Kerber and Julia Görges, the German Fed Cup team will compete with a core squad for the first-round match in Belarus (all matches live on DAZN). Nevertheless, the new team boss Jens Gerlach believes strongly in the surprise.
Angelique Kerber? In training camp. Julia Görges? Better regenerate. The first-round match of the German Fed Cup team from Saturday in Belarus will become a debutante ball after the early cancellations of the two top 10 players. Because it was cancelled out of the “second guard” in advance, the new team boss Jens Gerlach has to make do with a core squad in the duel with the last year’s finalist, who was also weakened in terms of personnel.
“Of course, we are clearly outsiders in terms of paper form, but we’re not just shaking hands here,”Gerlach said militantly. And this despite the fact that, in addition to the flagships Kerber and Görges, he is currently ranked ninth and tenth on the world ranking list, Carina Witthöft (sick) and Laura Siegemund (injured) will also have to do without in the short term.
Since the former top performers Sabine Lisicki (in advanced training) and Andrea Petkovic (qualification tournament in Doha) are not available, Gerlach was forced to improvise.
For his own premiere, the 44-year-old therefore relies on a mixture of newcomers and experienced riders. At the top is Tatjana Maria, who stood in the German squad for the last time in 2011 – at that time still under her maiden name Malek – and contests her first singles match against Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. The 30-year-old from Bad Saulgau presented herself strongly last year and is currently in 58th place in the world ranking.
The second match will be debutante Antonia Lottner against Alexandra Sasnowitsch. On Sunday the experienced Anna-Lena Grönefeld and the young Anna-Lena Friedsam meet Wera Lapko and Lidija Marozawa in the doubles.
“Nevertheless, we still have a team that can annoy Belarus,”said Gerlach, who in late summer 2017 succeeded Barbara Rittner, who had been promoted to Head of Women’s Tennis at the DTB for many years.
Nevertheless, the former coach of Russian world-class player Anastasia Myskina as a precautionary measure is asking for patience for his work:”I am someone who responds to the players and tries to find access to them,”he explained:”This is a process that takes some time after twelve years with a professional woman like Barbara on the bench”.
However, the chances of surprising even in Minsk are not that bad. Last but not least, the hosts, who lost last year’s final against the USA (2:3) without their top player Viktoria Asarenka, will also play. Even if we don’t play in top form, our goal remains to win the first round in Minsk,”says Gerlach.