... so with this and the year-end Fed Cup rankings known, it seems like a good chance to set out the format for next year, though I am sure most of the regulars here already know all or most of this:
There are 15 teams in Euro Group 1 with 2 to qualify. They are split into 4 groups with the group winners playing off, so a team needs to win 3 or 4 matches in Eilat in February to get into a World Group II playoff tie in late April, which could conceivably be our first home tie since the early 1990s.
There are plenty of good players in Group 1 (Denmark with Wozniacki even got relegated from it last year!) and we are not even seeded to win a group, let alone qualify. The other teams in Group 1, in ranking order and thus split into seeding bands are:
- EST, SWE, NED, POL
- GBR, ROU, AUT, HUN
- ISR, GRE, BUL, CRO
- BIH, POR, LUX, bye
-- Edited by steven on Thursday 8th of December 2011 12:12:55 PM
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Yes it will require something really special to qualify, with a good deal of luck in running. However with Judy as captain I believe that will give us a boost which will take us closer to our ultimate goal.
Thanks for doing that - I was tempted yesterday but really didn't have time. It makes interesting reading. Scary that there are 8 top 50 players in there but encouraging that we have the 2nd highest-ranked no. 2 apart from Romania who, if I understand the seedings correctly, can't be in our group.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Yeah, Romania look strong, Austria have 2 players who can beat just about anone on their day as well. 2 good ones to avoid. I'm just hoping we get a group of 4. Ideally Netherlands, Greece and Bosnia!
Hmm, the Estonian number 2 has just won the Orange Bowl Am I right in saying that Estonia used to have a highly ranked second singles player. Ani?
Yes - and Kontaveit won the OB title aged only 15, beating a player who is already top 250 WTA in the Final. Having said that, our no. 4 won junior Wimbledon at 14 and is of course now top 150, so that shouldn't be too scary, but it does mean Estonia might be trickier than most teams that have only one player in the top 500.
Maret Ani was ranked as high as 63 in 2006 but hasn't played singles in a WTA-ranked event since July 2010 or doubles since January 2011. She did play Fed Cup for them last April but didn't do very well and I imagine Kontaveit will get their no. 2 spot in 2012, though since they only have three ranked players (Kanepi, Kontaveit & Rüütel), Ani might go along as part of the team.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!