The women’s tennis team of Romania will face Switzerland for the qualification to the Fed Cup World Group on April 21-22, according to the draw on Tuesday in London. The matches will take place in Romania, the venue is to be decided later, ziare.com reports.
Fed Cup team’s captain Florin Segarceanu said on Tuesday that “if we look at the WTA rankings, we can say we are favourites against Switzerland, but we have to be careful. From my experience, surprises can come up anytime. The girls must be focused on every match, no matter who they face.”
Segarceanu admitted that Romania has a great advantage by playing at home, noting that he would like the meeting to take place in Cluj, where the match with Canada was played last week. “I am very glad to play this match against Switzerland at home and hope to play in Cluj-Napoca. It would be a huge advantage to return there and have that audience. The polyvalent hall is extraordinary and the audience is sensational. The girls felt great in Cluj, me too,” the captain said.
“In Cluj we could play either on clay or on a surface similar to the one used recently against Canada, it depends on what the girls will decide, they are the ones to play. After all, it is good that we are the ones to choose the surface, that’s what counts,” Segarceanu added.
The other matches for qualification are: Belarus vs. Slovakia, Australia vs. Netherlands and Italy vs. Belgium.
In the first round of World Group II, Romania defeated Canada 3-1 in Cluj, whereas Switzerland was defeated by the Czech Republic 3-1 in the World Group.
In previous encounters, Romania and Switzerland are levelled 3-3.
Romania has six tennis players in top 100: Simona Halep – 2nd WTA, Irina Begu – 37th WTA, Sorana Cirstea – 38th WTA, Mihaela Buzarnescu – 43rd WTA, Ana Bogdan – 86th WTA, Monica Niculescu – 92nd WTA.
Switzerland has three players in top 100: Timea Bacsinszky – 42nd WTA, Belinda Bencic – 73rd WTA, Viktorija Golubovic – 100th WTA. The Fed Cup team also includes Jil Teichmann – 134th WTA.
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