Fed Cup By BNP Paribas to be Played in Tampa Bay

The USTA and United States Fed Cup Captain Kathy Rinaldi announced that 2017 Australian Open semifinalist and world No. 24 CoCo Vandeweghe, No. 36 Lauren Davis, No. 49 Shelby Rogers, and world No. 1 doubles player and 2017 Australian Open women’s doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands will represent the U.S. in the 2017 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Semifinal against the Czech Republic.   

The best-of-five match series will be played at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa Bay, April 22-23. Tampa Bay will be hosting Fed Cup for the first time. 

The winner of this matchup will advance to the Fed Cup Final, to be played Nov. 11-12. The U.S. Fed Cup team made its last appearance in the final in 2010, falling to Italy, 3-1, in San Diego. The U.S. won the last of its record 17 Fed Cup titles in 2000, while the  Czech Republic has been dominant in Fed Cup in recent years, winning five titles in the last six years (2011-12, 2014-16). The U.S. reached the semifinals by sweeping Germany in the first round, 4-0, in Maui, Hawaii, earlier this year.

The Czech Republic’s Fed Cup Captain Petr Pala named No. 38 Katerina Siniakova, No. 58 Kristyna Pliskova, No. 107 Denisa Allertova, and No. 233 Marketa Vondrousova to face Team USA. 

Play begins on Saturday, April 22, at 11:30 a.m., with two singles matches. On Sunday, play will begin at 10:30 a.m., with two reverse singles matches and the doubles match. A revised schedule for Sunday may take place if a team clinches in the third or fourth match. Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage. 

Limited tickets are still available and may be purchased by visiting www.usta.com/fedcup or by calling 888-334-USTA (8782). Both single-day and two-day ticket packages are available. Two-day ticket packages for both Saturday and Sunday range from $60 to $150 ($30 to $75 per day), representing the greatest initial ticket value. Single-day tickets for Saturday or Sunday play are available from $35 to $80 per day. 

The U.S. holds a 9-2 head-to-head record over the Czech Republic in Fed Cup play. The U.S. last faced the Czech Republic in the 2009 World Group Semifinal in Brno, Czech Republic, winning the tie, 3-2, in a fifth-and-decisive doubles rubber to reach the final. The Czech Republic has not defeated the U.S. in Fed Cup competition since 1985.

Vandeweghe, 25, is ranked No. 24 in the world. She reached a career-high No. 20 in the world earlier this year after advancing to the semifinals of the 2017 Australian Open—her career-best Grand Slam result. In Australia, she upset three seeded players, including then-world No. 1 Angelique Kerber, before falling to Venus Williams in the semifinals. Vandeweghe also advanced to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2015. Vandeweghe holds two WTA singles titles, both won in ‘s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in 2014 and 2016. She represented the U.S. in the 2016 Rio Olympics in women’s doubles and advanced to the doubles semifinals at the 2015 and 2016 US Open and the quarterfinals at the 2016 Australian Open. She captured her first WTA doubles title at Indian Wells in 2016 with Mattek-Sands. Vandeweghe has played in five Fed Cup ties for the U.S., holding a 3-0 record in doubles and a 3-3 record in singles, most recently winning both of her singles matches earlier this year in the first round in Maui. As a junior player, Vandeweghe won the 2008 US Open girls’ singles title. Her mother, Tauna, was a member of the U.S. national team in both swimming and volleyball, and her uncle is former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe.

Davis, 23, is ranked No. 36 in the world. She won her first career WTA singles title in 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand, upsetting four seeds en route. She then reached two WTA quarterfinals in Qatar and Dubai this February, as well as the fourth round in Indian Wells to reach No. 34 in the world in March. In 2016, Davis also reached two WTA finals (Washington D.C. and Quebec City). Davis is competing in her first Fed Cup tie since 2015. In 2014, she made her debut against Italy in the World Group Quarterfinals in Cleveland, where Davis grew up. She also competed for the U.S. in the 2015 World Group Playoff tie in Italy. Davis holds a 0-1 record in Fed Cup singles play and a 1-0 record in doubles.

Rogers, 24, is ranked No. 49 in the world. This year, she reached two WTA quarterfinals (Charleston, S.C., and Hobart) and upset No. 4 seed Simona Halep in the first round of the Australian Open. Rogers, who reached No. 48 in the world in January, gained her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2016 French Open, upsetting three seeds en route. Also in 2016, she reached her second career WTA final at the Rio Open. As a junior player, Rogers won the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card into the main draw of the 2010 US Open for her first appearance in a Grand Slam event. She is competing in her second consecutive Fed Cup tie after making her debut earlier this year in Maui, where she competed in the dead doubles rubber with Mattek-Sands.

Mattek-Sands, 32, became the No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world in January 2017 after winning the Brisbane doubles title. She then went on to win the 2017 Australian Open women’s doubles title with Lucie Safarova. Mattek-Sands and Safarova also won the doubles title at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., this April for Mattek-Sands 25th career WTA doubles title. Mattek-Sands won the Australian Open and French Open women’s doubles titles in 2015 and the US Open in 2016—all with Safarova. In mixed doubles, Mattek-Sands captured the gold medal with Jack Sock at the 2016 Rio Olympics and holds two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (2012 Australian Open with Horia Tecau and 2015 French Open with Mike Bryan). In singles, Mattek-Sands has played in 15 US Opens and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2008 and of the French Open in 2013. In 2011, she was ranked a career-high No. 30 in the world in singles before being sidelined by a rotator cuff injury.  Mattek-Sands holds a 6-0 record in Fed Cup doubles and a 2-6 record in singles, playing in eight ties. In the 2010 Fed Cup semifinal, with the U.S. trailing Russia 2-1, Mattek-Sands won the fourth singles match to force the decisive doubles rubber and then partnered with Liezel Huber to win the doubles match and clinch a spot in the final for the U.S. That was the United States’ last appearance in a Fed Cup final. 

Fed Cup is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with approximately 100 nations taking part each year. The U.S. is 39-6 all-time in Fed Cup ties played at home and holds an overall 147-36 record. For more information, including access to player and historical Fed Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/fedcup or www.fedcup.com. Follow the U.S. Fed Cup team on Facebook @USTA, on Twitter @USTA, and on Instagram @USTA. Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Fed Cup team. Deloitte is the official team sponsor of the U.S. Fed Cup Team for the first time in 2017.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports  wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.