The Other Fed

So. Fed Cup.

I suspect a lot of us would rather not talk about it, especially those of us who are Australian or American. It was not a good time, shall we say. I mean, there were moments, moments where things were great, people who played their hearts out. But in the end... oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.

Australia were playing Ukraine, and we managed to embarrass ourselves a lot less than the Americans, so go us. We had match point in the doubles...! We could have taken it...! And Anastasia Rodionova could totally have won that singles match...! And... if wishes were horses, etc.

The Australian press (what little of it there is that covers Fed Cup, anyway) has been pretty mean to Anastasia Rodionova about the whole "losing three rubbers" business... and it certainly is a weekend to forget for her. Not her finest hour. But in reality, she wouldn't normally be the lady that takes the court anyway, so well done to her for stepping up. And a super well done to Jarka Groth, who won both her singles rubbers and was generally awesome all weekend.

But no, on the whole, Australia suffered from a case of Fed Cup malaise. Fed Cup is just not that important to people, in the long run. Ukraine had the same thing - they were sans Bondarenkos. We had no Stosur, no Dokic, and Groth and Rodionova were essentially left as a two woman team. Kudos to them that they did as well as they did...

...and didn't, oh, lose 5-0, like a certain American team I could name.

You have to feel sorry for them. People believe, I think, that the American Fed Cup team is a lot better than it actually is, on account of there have been some Williamses on it before. But to throw McHale, Oudin, King and Huber up against Lisicki, Petkovic, Goerges and Groenefeld? Ouch.

The Germans have an awesome Fed Cup team and I will not be surprised if they win the whole thing in coming years. What they did to the American girls is only the beginning, I think. Let's hope somebody actually notices how awesome these girls are... because if you thought people didn't care about Davis Cup, it's ten times worse for Fed Cup.

Anastasia and Sam On Top

Australia has a damn good Fed Cup team. I don't think anyone can gainsay this now.

I think everyone was expecting Stosur to do well - the win she had in Charleston can only buoy her confidence, and even though she traditionally doesn't do quite as well when everyone's watching her. However, she's really come through big and scored a sweet win for Australia. Yay for Sam.

But the real star and story has to be Anastasia Rodionova. I don't think anyone thought that she'd come through Bondarenko - either of the Bondarenkos. They're both ranked higher than Rodionova and both are very used to having the weight of their nation resting on their shoulders - they're all Ukraine has, really. Whereas Rodionova is on debut.

So this was a really, really great win from Anastasia. I really wish I had had the opportunity to see it - and the Stosur match as well, for that matter - but Australian TV is very lax about televising these things. Which is a whole other issue.

...but back to the point. If the Aussies can come through in doubles tomorrow - which is a reasonable bet - then we're back in the World Group. And in the World Group in 2011, I think Australia can do real damage.