LIKE every sport on the planet right now, tennis is in hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means no live sport for the time being, and everyone is scrambling for whatever sport they can find be it the Belarusian Premier League, Tajikistan Basketball League or Ukrainian table tennis. Next week would have seen the Fed Cup take place with the teams qualified and the groups decided, but of course it, like many other events, has been postponed. But it does not mean one cannot simulate possible events for the most likely outcome and look back to see the supposed accuracy. At Draft Central, that is what we will look to do, with daily updates of each group next week. Let us take a look at the 12 qualified teams and the format.

Competitors: (Seeds in brackets)

Group A: France (1), Russia, Hungary
Group B: Australia (2), Belarus, Belgium
Group C: USA (3), Spain, Slovakia
Group D: Czech Republic (4), Germany, Switzerland

Format: (**Doubles players)

Each tie features two singles matches and a doubles rubber from which the winner is determined in a best-of-three tie. The finalists get automatic entry into the 2021 Fed Cup, those finishing third to 10th head to the Qualifiers in 10 months time, and then the bottom two nations have to face-off in regional Group I events.

GROUP A PREVIEW:

[1] France: Kristina Mladenovic**, Carolina Garcia**, Alize Cornet, Pauline Parmentier
[7] Russia: Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Veronika Kudermetova**, Anna Blinkova**
[15] Hungary: Timea Babos**, Reka-Luca Jani**, Dalma Galfi, Adrienn Nagy

The first group will ultimately be decided between France and Russia with the two nations having very capable players at the top-end. The Russians have been in-form in terms of their recent singles results and will head in with Alexandrova and Pavlyuchenkova as the main two singles, with Kudermetova and Blinkova set to compete in the doubles. France does not have the depth it once had, but they are the reigning champions and seeded one overall, though expect Mladenovic and Garcia to do most of the heavy lifting. Hungary did not utilise star doubles talent and top singles player, Babos last year due to injury, but expect her to return and lead the massive underdogs on their home soil. She is the only player ranked inside the top 200 from her nation, so they are not expected to progress much further.

GROUP B PREVIEW:

[2] Australia: Ash Barty**, Ajla Tomljanovic, Samantha Stosur**, Maddison Inglis
[5] Belarus: Aryna Sabalenka**, Victoria Azarenka**, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Olga Govortsova
[12] Belgium: Elise Mertens**, Alison Van Uytvanck, Kirsten Flipkens**, Greet Minnen

Australia’s side has been terrific over the last couple of years, largely due to having the number one player in the world in Barty. She will be hard to beat regardless of opponent, but expect her to team up with Tomljanovic in the singles. Stosur is a specialist doubles player, but still ranked inside the top 100 for singles, while in this simulation, Inglis has been handed a potential debut as the fourth highest ranked Aussie, though the likes of Priscilla Hon and Arina Rodionova would be considered. Belarus is a real danger for Australia and the Aussies would be disappointed to have copped a side with two top 20 doubles players in it. All three of their top players are capable at either format, and would challenge Australia’s second singles player to force a doubles. For Belgium, they too are good at doubles with Mertens and Flipkens inside the top 30, while Van Uytvanck is in good form of late. They cannot be overlooked, but an underdog in a tough group.

GROUP C PREVIEW:
[3] USA: Sofia Kenin**, Serena Williams, Alison Riske, Bethanie Mattek-Sands**
[9] Spain: Garbine Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro, Sara Sorribes Tormo**, Georgia Garcia Perez**
[10] Slovakia: Viktoria Kuzmova**, Magdalena Rybarikova, Anna Karolina Schiedlova, Tereza Mihalikova**

The United States have enviable depth with eight players inside the top 50 for singles. Given the shorter format, doubles is all the more crucial to get right, which is how Mattek-Sands gets a gig. She teams up with Kenin on the actual WTA Tour so no doubt that is something the US will look to exploit, while you can simply not leave out Williams from the team. In this simulation, Riske has been chosen over Madison Keys due to being in much better form, and would give Kenin a chop out in the singles without losing too much in quality. Spain managed to win through to these Finals without the help of Grand Slam winner Muguruza, but expect her to return and have a big influence in what could be a repeat of the Australian Open final against Kenin. Suarez Navarro is on her farewell tour and will hope to go out with a bang, while the doubles makes sense for Sorribes Tormo and Garcia Perez to team up as they are regular WTA Tour doubles partners, and both ranked inside the top 75 in the world for the format. Slovakia will be heavy underdogs in the group despite the top 10 ranking, simply because their top singles player in Kuzmova is lower ranked than the top three in the other sides. They will blood Mihalikova through the doubles at just 21-years-old and the second highest doubles player as a positive.

GROUP D PREVIEW:

[4] Czech Republic: Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova**, Katerina Siniakova**
[6] Germany: Angelique Kerber, Julia Goerges, Laura Siegemund**, Anna-Lena Friedsam**
[11] Switzerland: Belinda Bencic**, Jil Teichmann, Viktorija Golubic**, Leonie Kung

Czech Republic deserve to start favourites for the overall title given at full strength they have Grand Slam winners galore. Pliskova and Kvitova is as good as the American combination, while the doubles of Krejcikova and Siniakova should beat just about anyone given they play on the WTA Tour together and are ranked inside the top 10. The German side will welcome back Kerber who provides great experience and could challenge the top players in the group, while Goerges is always a challenging player. Their doubles combination of Siegemund and Friedsam is inside the top 60, though not quite as cohesive as the Czech pairing as the Germans are part-time doubles players. The Swiss will largely depend on the impact Bencic has, who is as hot-and-cold as players come. But one huge benefit for the Swiss compared to the other sides is age – with three of the four Swiss talents 23 years or under. It was tough to pick the fourth player with Bencic and Teichmann the two clear choices inside the top 100 – Bencic inside the top 10 – while Golubic is the next best doubles option to team up with Bencic. In this simulation, teenager Kung has been handed a potential debut, with the 19-year-old having played some great tennis in 2020 thus far.

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HOW THE SIMULATION WILL WORK:

Draft Central will look at a combination of the head-to-head of players, as well as factor in playing surface, form and past Fed Cup experience. Whilst it is not as enjoyable as the real thing, it can give a bit of an insight into who might lift the 2020 Fed Cup aloft when it does occur, likely late in the year.

OUR FIXTURE:

Monday, April 6: France vs. Hungary, Australia vs. Belgium
Tuesday, April 7: USA vs. Slovakia, Czech Republic vs. Switzerland
Wednesday, April 8: Russia vs. Hungary, Belarus vs. Belgium
Thursday, April 9: Spain vs. Slovakia, Germany vs. Switzerland
Friday, April 10: France vs. Russia, Australia vs. Belarus
Saturday, April 11: USA vs. Spain, Czech Republic vs. Germany
Sunday, April 12: Fed Cup Semi-Finals
Monday, April 13: Fed Cup Final