Safarova wins Fed Cup Heart Award

The ITF yesterday announced that Lucie Safarova has won the final Fed Cup Heart Award of 2015 in recognition of her performance during Czech Republic’s semifinal victory against France in Ostrava in April.

Safarova has represented her country in Fed Cup for the past 12 years having made her debut in 2004 at the age of 17. She has played a total of 19 ties, and been a member of three Fed Cup Final winning teams in 2011, 2012 and 2014. In April’s semifinal, she gave Czech Republic a winning start against France, saving five match points to defeat Caroline Garcia 46 76(1) 61 in the opening rubber.

Safarova was presented with a cheque for US$10,000, which will be donated to her chosen charity, Movement Without Help Foundation, a Czech charity that supports people with spinal injuries and illnesses. The presentation was made on Friday by ITF President David Haggerty after the draw ceremony for the 2015 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Czech Republic and Russia at City Hall in Prague.

Safarova said: “It’s such great news. I’m really happy. It’s an honour to get such a prize and I would like to thank all the fans who voted for me. You always play with you heart in Fed Cup and I love to play for my team. It means a lot for me to win this award.”

Safarova was shortlisted for the award alongside Petra Kvitova (CZE), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) and Elena Vesnina (RUS). All four players competed in the World Group semifinals in April and helped their nation reach the Final, which is taking place at the O2 Arena in Prague on 14-15 November.

The players were shortlisted by the Heart Award judging panel, consisting of ITF President David Haggerty and a mixture of former players and members of the international media. A public vote, which ran on 26-29 October, was held on FedCup.com and FedCup.com/es to decide the winner.

A total of six Heart Awards have been presented in 2015. Safarova follows in the footsteps of Flavia Pennetta (ITA), Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU), Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR), Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA), who were honoured earlier this year.

Lucie Safarova
photo credit: Tatiana
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

ITF President David Haggerty said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lucie for her longstanding commitment to the Czech Republic team and some outstanding performances. She has played a key role in her team’s success in recent years, during which she has demonstrated her fighting qualities and a strong team spirit.”

The Fed Cup Heart Award is an ITF initiative that was first presented to USA’s Melanie Oudin at the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final. It aims to recognise players who have represented their country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to their team.

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 99 nations entered in 2015. The event celebrated its 50th birthday in 2013 in the ITF’s centenary year. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) is an international sponsor and beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner.

Nominations Announced For Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final

The ITF has announced the official team nominations for the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Czech Republic and Russia in Prague on 14-15 November.

The draw for the Final will take place on Friday 13 November at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT).

There will be comprehensive coverage of the Final on the official Fed Cup website and social media all week. In addition, the English and Spanish versions of the website will feature live scoring, a live blog, reports, photographs, audio interviews and live streaming. There will also be a fan zone showing the best social media content on http://www.fedcup.com/showyourcolours.

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Trophy

FED CUP BY BNP PARIBAS FINAL

CZECH REPUBLIC v RUSSIA
Venue: O2 Arena, Prague (hard – indoors)

Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Safarova
Karolina Pliskova
Barbora Strycova
Captain: Petr Pala

Maria Sharapova
photo credit: Ian Gampon
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode

Russia
Maria Sharapova
Ekaterina Makarova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Elena Vesnina
Captain: Anastasia Myskina

Petra Kvitova
photo credit Kate
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

Voting opens for final Fed Cup Heart Award for 2015

The ITF today confirmed the four nominations for the final Fed Cup Heart Award of 2015. The award will be presented during the 2015 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Czech Republic and Russia in Prague on 14-15 November.

Petra Kvitova (CZE), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS), Lucie Safarova (CZE) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) have all been shortlisted for the World Group semifinals award.

The players were shortlisted by the Heart Award judging panel, consisting of ITF President David Haggerty and a mixture of former players and members of the international media. A public vote, running on 26-29 October, is being held on FedCup.com and FedCup.com/es to decide the winner, who will receive a cheque for $10,000 to be donated to their chosen charity.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “The Fed Cup Heart Award is in its seventh year and continues to recognise the outstanding contributions made by players to their country and the competition. Fed Cup by BNP Paribas celebrated its 50th birthday in 2013 in the ITF centenary year, and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of all the players during this time who have helped Fed Cup grow to enjoy the success that it does today.”

The Fed Cup Heart Award is an ITF initiative that was first presented to USA’s Melanie Oudin at the 2009 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final. It aims to recognise players who have represented their country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to their team. A total of six players will be recognised in 2015. To cast your vote, visit the Fed Cup website

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 99 nations entered in 2015. The event celebrated its 50th birthday in 2013 in the ITF’s centenary year. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Fed Cup. Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) is an international sponsor and beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner.

For the latest news, visit http://www.fedcup.com, http://www.fedcup.com/es, http://www.twitter.com/fedcup, http://www.facebook.com/FedCup, http://www.Weibo.com/fedcupofficial and http://www.fedcup.tv.

WTA RTS UPDATE: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova makes big jump…

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made a big jump on the Road To Singapore standings this week, shooting into ninth place after winning in Paris. The three Top 10 players she beat there also moved up.

The four players at the top of the Road To Singapore standings didn’t budge this week – Li Na, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard, the last four standing at the Aussie Open – but there was a lot of movement just beneath them after results from Paris and Pattaya.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made a massive jump, going from No.36 to No.9 after winning her first Premier-level title in Paris. She has come close to qualifying for the WTA Championships before, finishing 2011 at No.16 on the WTA Rankings, but could this be the year she finally makes it?

“I’m really happy with how I started this year so far, so I’m just looking forward to keeping it up,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “What makes this special is it’s the biggest one I’ve won so far, and of course to beat so many good players gives me more confidence. But I still have to keep working hard.”

Pavlyuchenkova beat three Top 10 players en route to the title in the City Of Light and all three also made significant moves up the standings, with Angelique Kerber going from No.8 to No.5, Maria Sharapova going from No.14 to No.10 and Sara Errani going from No.52 to No.14. All three of those players have been to the WTA Championships multiple times before and are hoping to keep that up.

“I think my year has started well,” Kerber, who played her first two WTA Championships the last two years, said. “I’ve had a lot of good matches and I’m feeling good at the start of the season right now.

“It was difficult coming from Melbourne to Paris but I think I made the adjustment well.”

“Even though I lost in the final, I’m still very happy with my tournament here,” Errani, who also played her first two WTA Championships the last two years, commented. “It was tough losing early in Australia but I played some very good matches from the first round here and I’m feeling good now.”

Sharapova has had by far the most success of the three at the WTA Championships, winning the title in 2004 and reaching two more finals in 2007 (falling to Justine Henin) and 2012 (falling to Serena Williams). She’s hoping her Road To Singapore brings her to the season finale for the seventh time.

In Paris, however, Sharapova fell in a nail-biter to Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals, her second semifinal of the year – she was also a semifinalist at Brisbane (where she fell to Williams).

“The more I put myself in this position and get to the later rounds, the more challenges lay ahead of me, but that’s why I love this sport and that’s why I worked so hard to come back,” she said.

“The challenges will only help me towards the rest of the year.”

Ekaterina Makarova, who won the Pattaya City title, went from No.17 to No.13 on the standings.

Errani and Vinci still lead the Road To Singapore leaderboard in doubles with a healthy lead over the next-closest team, Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The Italians have 2490 points, the Russians 1301.

Source : http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3652188/title/rts-update-nastia-into-the-running#sthash.6DPSJFV0.dpuf