Fed Cup 2012

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Fed Cup 2012

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I'm in two minds whether to make the trip or not.

I havent' been on holiday in a while

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I think it is up for grabs.

If Sweeded loose one of their big two its ours for the taking then though

indiana · Tennis legend

Mervatron wrote:
I'm in two minds whether to make the trip or not.

I havent' been on holiday in a while

Hmm, wasn't thinking about it at all until the venue and travel possibilities started being mentioned, and I suddenly got kind of itchy feet.

Will be free, never actually been to Sweden, and really follow the top GB girls these days.

I wonder, I wonder..

scottie1 · Futures level

indy sweden is really fantastic nice people no language barriers only downside it is expensive but not so dear as norway

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I'm in London the thursday and friday before so could easily get a flight from there friday sometime.

Its getting more and more tempting every day

philwrig · Hall of fame

Everytime the FedCup account on twitter announces a forthcoming venue for the end of April matches, I'm thinking where are the Swedes going to choose.
I even asked Sofie Arvo earlier this week, and showing her wicked sense of humour, she replied ' yeah looking like North of Sweden, outside in minus 10 degress on snow' !
I wouldn't be surprised if they are seriously thinking of an outside clay court venue. The temperatures would not be spectatator friendly, but it would probably be mid 50's so playable for the players.

PaulM · Tennis legend

I know, I'm getting impatient!

steven · Tennis legend

Not sure if any of this is of any use to those hoping to go, but for what it's worth, here's what a quick search turned up on Swedish sites:

Helsingborg's daily paper at http://bit.ly/y1a6bn wonders if the city will get another Fed Cup tie - from what I can gather, they would like to hold it there again and both Arvidsson and Larsson are connected to the club there but it is by no means certain they will get offered it again and even if they do, there may be a clash with some football finals - it looks like the tennis club shares the facilities with the local football team.

They quote Johanna Larsson as saying it would be good to play in Helsingborg again but that when you play, you aren't too concerned which city you are in - the most important thing is to play in an arena that can hold a good crowd.

Sofia Arvidsson is then quoted as saying more or less the opposite (either that or I have misunderstood one of the quotes), i.e. that the most important thing is that the venue is not so big that the stands are half-empty!

The article lists Borås (about 50 miles inland / 1 hour by train from Gothenburg) and Stockholm as other strong candidates - the former hosted Sweden's DC tie against Russia last year in front of a large crowd, while Stockholm is in some ways an obvious choice, but Larsson is concerned that there is so much else going on in the capital that a Fed Cup tie might not attract enough interest.

However, it definitely won't be held in Växjö - it says in the 14 Feb entry at http://bit.ly/wtN03Q that they were asked by the Swedish Federation if they were interested in holding it (I get the impression that he means they were one of the places the federation asked, not necessarily the first choice) but it turns out the ceiling height is too low - shades of Stirling Uni! The person writing that blog also estimates 500-600 spectators as being the best they can realistically expect for a WG 2 playoff tie.

Reeltime · Satellite level

Tennis on Ice. Could be interesting!

PaulM · Tennis legend

Is Sofia continues her Memphis run, I think there is a good chance they will go for indoors. Just because although the Brits are bad on clay, Sofia isn't much better.

steven · Tennis legend

Given that Arvidsson has just won the Memphis title (meaning that both of her WTA singles titles and the last 3 of her 4 career WTA singles Finals have been here - she won the title the last time the Final was on 25 Feb in 2006 and lost to Sharapova in the Final in 2010), we might have to add Tennessee to the list of possible venues for the Fed Cup tie!

steven · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
The article lists Borås (about 50 miles inland / 1 hour by train from Gothenburg) and Stockholm as other strong candidates - the former hosted Sweden's DC tie against Russia last year in front of a large crowd ...

... and the Boråshallen is where it will be. The last Brits to play there and cause a stir were the Beatles, who played the biggest single concert of their tour of Sweden there in 1963, the year Fed Cup first started.

-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 28th of February 2012 03:10:31 PM

philwrig · Hall of fame

Anyone thinking of making the trip ?
It would appear that going via Edinburgh is the cheapest and for anyone coming from the North of England or Scotland the quickest route as well.
The best plan is thus: Fly Edinburgh to Gothenburg City Airport (Ryanair £60 return ), then Airport bus to the main bus terminal in Gothenburg then bus direct to Boras.
The nearest hotel to the venue ( about 500m) is already fully booked, so you are looking at other hotels variously priced about 1000m from the venue. These may also get fully booked very quickly. The hotels are about £ 100 a night roughly.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Could someone remind me of the exact dates - i can't seem to track it down now.

Thanks