KAILUA-KONA — International tennis is coming to the Big Island, and so are some very notable names.
The USTA and United States Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced that former world No. 1 and current world No. 10 Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands will represent the U.S. in the 2016 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II First Round against Poland.
The best-of-five match series will be played at the Holua Tennis Center at the Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village from Feb. 6-7. It will be the first Fed Cup tie held in Hawaii.
“We have great variety and depth on our team for Hawaii,” Fernandez said. “I am thrilled to have Venus, one of tennis’ greatest champions, competing for us.
Sloane had a strong start to the season, winning Auckland for her second tour singles title, and CoCo and Bethanie are both playing really well in singles and doubles. Poland brings a skilled team and we look forward to competing. We are very excited to bring Fed Cup tennis to Hawaii for the first time and for the fans to come cheer us on.”
The winner of the match advances to the World Group Playoffs, held April 16-17, to compete for a spot in the 2017 World Group. The losing nation will play in the World Group II Playoffs in April to remain in World Group II in 2017.
Poland’s Fed Cup Captain Klaudia Jans-Ignacik named Magda Linette, Paula Kania and Alicja Rosolska to face Team USA. Jans-Ignacik is also part of the four-team roster as a playing captain.
The teams are without No. 1 ranked Serena Williams and Poland’s top player, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska. The two were opponents in the Australian Open semifinals on Wednesday, with Serena Williams coming out on top 6-0, 6-4.
Play begins Feb. 6 with two singles matches featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Sunday’s schedule features two “reverse singles” matches, where the No. 1 players square off and then the No. 2 players meet, followed by the doubles match.
The United States holds a 3-0 record over Poland in Fed Cup. The U.S. last faced Poland in the 1990 World Group First Round in Atlanta, sweeping the tie, 3-0. The U.S., who also faced Poland in 1974 and 1980, has never lost an individual match in Fed Cup to Poland. This will be the U.S.’s first home tie since 2014 in St. Louis, as the team competed on the road in Argentina and Italy in 2015.
Hawaii becomes the 16th state to host Fed Cup.
