Williams sisters will play on U.S. Fed Cup team
MELBOURNE, Australia – Venus and Serena Williams will play on the U.S. Fed Cup team February 7-8 in a tie against Argentina, marking the first time both sisters have played the international women's team competition since April 2013.
The USTA was set to announce the team Wednesday morning, which is led by captain Mary Joe Fernandez.
"We've got a really good team," Fernandez told USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview. "Both Williams sisters, Madison Keys and Varvara Lepchenko will be on the team. Taylor Townsend will be there as well."
Serena Williams and Keys will meet Thursday afternoon (Wednesday night ET) in Melbourne in the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first all-American Grand Slam semifinal since the US Open in 2002.
The U.S. was relegated to World Group II, the second tier of this yearly team competition, last season with two losses in the World Group, marking the first time it had been relegated since 2012.
The Williams sisters will lead the Americans against host Argentina, which is headed by world No. 124 Paula Ormaechea who has been as high as 59th in the world. The tie – unsurprisingly – will be played on red clay.
"We go in as heavy favorites," said Fernandez, captain since 2009. "It's on clay so it'll take a little bit of time to adjust to the surface. In team competition, we've won as the underdogs and lost as the favorites, so we can't take it for granted and we won't."
World No. 32 Sloane Stephens was passed over for the team by Fernandez for No. 35 Keys, Stephens is set to fall in the rankings next week after a first-round loss at the Australian Open while the 19-year-old Keys is having her break out event in Melbourne.
Townsend, an up-and-coming 18-year-old ranked No. 99 in the world, will serve officially as a practice partner.
The U.S. has won 17 titles as a team – the most in Fed Cup history – but none since 2000. Players are required to participate in at least three Fed or Davis Cup ties in an Olympic cycle, one of which is held in 2015 or 2016, in order to be eligible for Team USA selection, according to the International Tennis Federation, tennis' main governing body. The 2016 Olympic Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Williams sisters are a combined 32-5 (in singles and doubles) in Fed Cup rubbers (matches).
"It's wonderful. It's a bonus," Fernandez said of having both Venus and Serena on the team. "I know that their careers are really busy and I understand Fed Cup hasn't always been what they want to do, but whenever they're able to make time for it and be there, it's awesome. It's not just because they're the best, but it's also about what they do with the young ones; their impact and influence and inspiration, the girls benefit from that."
Ormaechea has played only Venus and Keys, losing to Williams at the French Open in 2013 in three sets and defeating Keys at the US Open in 2012.
Maria Irigoyen and Florencia Molinero are the next two highest-ranked Argentines at No. 198 and No. 226. Ormaechea and Irigoyen lost in the qualifying tournament of the Australian Open.
The U.S. could hobble into Argentina: Serena is nursing a cough in Melbourne; Keys re-aggravated a left adductor injury in the quarterfinals; and Lepchenko, the world No. 30, was in the hospital earlier this week due to an illness, though she posted on her Twitter account that she was recovering.
Serena is chasing her 19th Grand Slam singles title in Australia while Keys defeated Venus and world No. 4 Petra Kvitova to make a first-ever major semifinal. (They meet Thursday afternoon, Melbourne time/Wednesday evening in the U.S.) Venus, losing in the quarterfinals, had her best result at a major in almost five years (semifinals, 2010 US Open).
"You just have to take your hat off to them and the fact that they're playing at this level for this long, for Venus in particular," Fernandez said of the Williams sisters.
Venus and Serena were not a part of the 2000 championship team, though they did participate the year before, when the U.S. defeated Russia to win the title. The U.S. has made the final three times since (2003, 2009 and 2010), though they have not made it out of the World Group first round in the last four years. They must win this tie to advance to a World Group play-off and enter back into the championship tier for 2016.
Asked last week by an Argentinian journalist if she would be making the trip, Serena smiled, responding: "Yes, I will be there."
Tennis Channel will carry both days of action live from Buenos Aires, starting Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. ET.