STUTTGART, April 21, 2017
Germany will take on the Ukraine in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Play-offs at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart this weekend and will be looking to world No. 1 Angelique Kerber to guide the hosts to a second victory over the Ukrainians.
The two nations have met on one previous occasion – in a World Group play-off tie in 2004, when current German captain Barbara Rittner teamed up with Jasmin Woehr to defeat Yuliana Fedak and Tatiana Perebiynis in the decisive doubles rubber.
The Ukraine, however, has its own elite player in World No. 13 Elina Svitolina and will be aiming to extend a six-tie winning streak that stretches back to 2015.
Görges And Svitolina To Open On Saturday
The tie will be opened on Saturday morning by Julia Görges taking Elina Svitolina, followed by Angelique Kerber facing Lesia Tsurenko in the second singles rubber.
“It is going to be a tough match but I will give my best. Everything is possible in Fed Cup matches. The quality of players in our team is very good,” Görges told after the draw ceremony, held at Stuttgart’s city hall on Friday.
“It’s always an amazing feeling to represent Ukraine and to be part of a team,” Svitolina remarked. “It’s going to be a tough weekend for us because Germany has a big choice of players who they can play in singles and doubles. But we are here, the team has prepared well and I’ll try to win some points for them.”
In Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers Kerber will face Svitolina and Görges will play Tsurenko.
“We had an intense week of practice here. There is an excellent atmosphere among the team and we are all looking forward to the start of the tie,” Kerber said.
In the doubles rubber Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthöft will team up for Germany, taking on Nadiia Kichenok and Olga Savchuk.
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🇩🇪 @juliagoerges and 🇺🇦 @ElinaSvitolina will open the #FedCup World Group play-off, before world No. 1 @AngeliqueKerber takes to the court! pic.twitter.com/HezpF2hSru
— Fed Cup (@FedCup) 21. April 2017
