Watson hits Fed Cup landmark
HEATHER WATSON will likely chalk up her 35th Fed Cup ‘cap’ as she heads the Great Britain team against Slovakia in Bratislava on 7-8 February.
The highly-dependable Guernsey great has been a part of 34 Great Britain Fed Cup ties, the sixth best all-time amongst British women, and 2020 marks her 10th year being part of the prestigious competition.
Her win/loss ratio is 20-9 and she is only one win behind Anne Keothavong in terms of singles.
The 27-year-old was first selected for the Euro/Africa Group I tie against Switzerland in 2011 and she goes into next month’s match as the highest ranked and most experienced member of the team, having appeared in every GB Fed Cup tie since her debut nine years ago.
She also goes into the tie in good form, having reached the semi-finals at the Hobart International in January, where she eventually lost in three sets to world No. 30 Elena Rybakina.
She reached the second round of the Australian Open, falling in straight sets to 16th seed Elise Mertens.
Watson’s enthusiasm for GB representation shows no sign of diminishing. ‘I love taking every opportunity to represent my country and I have done every year of my career.
‘I will give everything I’ve got, as I always do, and hopefully we can beat Slovakia and qualify for the finals in April,’ she said.
Captained by Anne Keothavong, the full GB Fed Cup squad is: Heather Watson, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Emma Raducanu and Naiktha Bains.
The winner of Great Britain and Slovakia will advance to be one of 12 nations playing in the all-new Fed Cup Finals in Budapest in April.
As before, ties are best of five matches, four singles and a doubles match, with all matches being contested as best of three tie break sets, however in 2020 matches are played on Friday and Saturday.
Seeds were decided by Fed Cup Nations ranking of 22 April 2019 and GB is currently ranked No.11 in the world from 106 nations.
