Doubles – First Round
Safarova/Zakopalova (CZE/CZE) d. Koryttseva/Woehr (UKR/GER) 64 63

Singles Qualifying – Final Round
(1) Mona Barthel (GER) d. (7) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 63 64
(2) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) d. (9) Jill Craybas (USA) 61 67(3) 64
(6) Kristina Barrois (GER) d. (3) Alberta Brianti (ITA) 60 63
(4) Greta Arn (HUN) d. Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (ESP) 57 64 61

Order Of Play – Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Central (from 11.00hrs)
1. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs. Mona Barthel
2. Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Li Na (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Lucie Safarova vs. Angelique Kerber
4. Julia Goerges vs. Shahar Peer

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Alberta Brianti vs. Petra Cetkovska
2. Dekmeijere/Klemenschits vs. Coin/Parmentier
3. Niculescu/Rosolska vs. Hrdinova/Pliskova
4. Bratchikova/Jurak vs. Brianti/Cornet
5. Polona Hercog vs. Chanelle Scheepers (NB 17.00hrs)
6. Craybas/Zahlavova Strycova vs. Grandin/Uhlirova
7. Petra Martic vs. Greta Arn

The four seeded nations in the World Group Play-offs are:

USA (1)

Belgium (2)

Spain (3)

Australia (4)

Each of the seeds will be drawn against one of the following unseeded nations:

Germany

Japan

Slovak Republic

Ukraine

The four seeded nations in the World Group II Play-offs are:

France (1)

Switzerland (2)

Sweden (3)

Argentina (4)

Each of the seeds will be drawn against one of the following unseeded nations:

Belarus

China, P.R.

Great Britain

Slovenia

The 2012 World Group and World Group II play-offs will take place alongside the World Group semifinals on 21-22 April. In the semifinals, Russia will be at home to Serbia, and Czech Republic will be at home to Italy.

A pair of wins for Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer and one each for Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Bojana Jovanovski meant that the tie in Charleroi had to be decided ina nail biting fifth rubber. With Jankovic suffering from a thigh injury, it was left toSerbian duo Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic to seal the winning point by defeating Wickmayer and Alison Van Uytvanck in three sets.

Having enjoyed a routine day at the office on Saturday, Russia were made to work hard for their eventual victory overSpain after Maria Sharapova ruled herself out of the reverse singles. Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Sharapova’s replacement Nadia Petrova 60 63, but Svetlana Kuznetsova got the hosts over the line with a hard fought win against Silvia Soler-Espinosa 62 46 63.

Petra Kvitova was the hero for the Czechs after coming from behind once again to win the battle of the No. 1s against Sabine Lisicki 67(2) 64 61. The result put Czech Republic into an unassailable 3-0 lead, although the Germans restored some pride by claiming one of the dead rubbers.

Italy booked their place in the last four with a 3-2 win over Ukraine, a result that maintained their position as the No. 1 ranked nation in the competition. After four topsy-turvy singles matches that saw Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, the world No. 121, pick up wins over both Francesca Schiavone and Sara Errani, the tie went down to the deciding fifth rubber. The Italian doubles pairing of Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci sealed the vital point for the hosts by defeating Tsurenko and Olga Savchuk in three sets. The World Group II first round ties also drew to a conclusion on Sunday. USA and Japan both recorded whitewash 5-0 wins over Belarus and Slovenia respectively, Slovak Republic overcame France 3-2, and Australia defeated Switzerland 4-1.

The four World Group II losers will battle to retain their status among the elite when they play in the World Group II play-offs. They will be joined there by the four Zone Group l qualifiers who finished top in their respective Groups last week: Argentina (Americas Zone Group I), China, P.R. (Asia/Oceania Zone Group I), and Great Britain and Sweden (Europe/Africa Zone Group I).

Reports, photographs and audio interviews from the World Group and World Group II ties, plus full results from all last week’s Fed Cup action, can be found on the official Fed Cup websites:  www.fedcup.com and  www.fedcup.com/es.

Should the U.S. win the Playoff in April, they will compete in the World Group next year and contend for the 2013 Fed Cup title.

The ITF previously extended its use of electronic review in 2011 to include the Davis Cup quarterfinals and Fed Cup semifinals. The system is only used on ties played on hard court and grass court.

Electronic review was first used in Davis Cup at the 2006 Final between Russia and Argentina in Moscow. Its use was extended to the Fed Cup Final in 2007 and the Davis Cup semifinals in 2010.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “The increased use of electronic review in our major team competitions reflects their status in the tennis calendar, and the expectations among fans. It was another extremely successful year for Davis Cup and Fed Cup in 2011, with strong player participation, good attendance and excellent media coverage.”

Juan Margets, ITF Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Davis Cup Committee, added: “We have received a positive response from our National Associations, team captains and players on our increased use of electronic review, and we believe it is important to continue this progress in our team competitions.”

About Davis Cup

About Fed Cup

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 90 nations entered in 2012. The event was established in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and BoscoSport (Official Clothing Sponsor) are international sponsors, and Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball) is an international partner. Follow all the action onwww.fedcup.com, www.fedcup.com/es and www.twitter.com/fedcup.

The U.S. team includes both Serena Williams and Venus Williams. They are joined by American teenager Christina McHale, who is currently ranked a career-high No. 38 and is the No. 2-ranked American behind Serena Williams, and world No. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber. Sloane Stephens, the daughter of the late New England Patriots running back John Stephens, is serving as the fifth member of the team.

The Belarusian team features new world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Australian Open final to claim her first Grand Slam title. Tatiana Poutchek is serving as captain for the team.

ORDER OF PLAY

DOMESTIC TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Live scoring for all ties will be available on the official Fed Cup website www.fedcup.com and www.fedcup.com/esthroughout the weekend. A Communications department representative will be available at the ITF headquarters in London from 08:00 GMT on Saturday and Sunday to assist with any media enquiries and can be contacted on +44 (0)20 8392 4632.

In addition to live scoring, the English and Spanish websites will both feature reports, photographs, blogs and audio interviews from all the ties. There is also the Fed Cup Radio audio service.

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 90 nations entered in 2012. The event was established in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and BoscoSport (Official Clothing Sponsor) are international sponsors, and Wilson Sporting Goods (Official Ball) is an international partner.

For further information, please contact ITF Communications on Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 4632 or Email:communications@itftennis.com.

WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND

USA v BELARUS

USA
Serena Williams
Christina McHale
Venus Williams
Liezel Huber
Captain: Mary Joe Fernandez

Belarus
Victoria Azarenka
Anastasia Yakimova
Olga Govortsova
Darya Kustova
Captain: Sergei Teterin

JAPAN v SLOVENIA

Court 1 (from 12.00hrs)
1. Greta Arn vs. Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (Singles Q Final)
2. Mona Barthel vs. Varvara Lepchenko (Singles Q Final)