U.S. Fed Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi on Wednesday announced that No. 17-ranked Madison Keys, No. 23 Danielle Collins, No. 36 Sofia Kenin, and doubles No. 13 Nicole Melichar will represent the U.S. in the 2019 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round hosting Australia on Feb. 9-10, 2019 in Asheville, N.C.
Introducing the 2019 #TeamUSATennis squad that is set to take on Australia in our first round @fedcup tie at the @USCellularCTR, Feb 9-10!@Madison_Keys
Danielle Collins
@SonyaKenin@nicole_melichar
Captain: Kathy RinaldiRead more: https://t.co/PQGh1Q1czE pic.twitter.com/Sm6NOxGtZq
— USTA (@usta) January 30, 2019
The Australian side will be represented by world singles No. 14 and doubles No. 6 Ashleigh Barty, No. 46 Daria Gavrilova, No. 142 Priscilla Hon, No. 157 Kimberley Birrell and No. 160 Astra Sharma, with former pro Alicia Molik captaining.
The match will be played on a hard court inside Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center.
The match-ups and order of play for the weekend’s matches will be determined at the official draw ceremony, which will be held at noon on Friday, Feb. 8, in the U.S. Cellular Center lobby. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com. Tennis Channel and Stadium will present live daily coverage nationally in the U.S., while WLOS-TV will carry the matches locally in Asheville.
The winner of the match-up will advance to the semifinals on April 20-21 to face the winner of Germany and Belarus.
All the U.S. team members reside in Florida. Keys, 23, will be appearing in her fifth U.S. Fed Cup tie after sending the U.S. to its second straight Fed Cup final last year. Collins, 25, was a breakout star of the 2019 Australian Open, reaching the semifinals in her first main-draw appearance in Melbourne. Kenin, 20, is the youngest player in the Top 40 and began the 2019 season by winning her first WTA doubles and singles titles in consecutive weeks, in Brisbane and Hobart, respectively. Melichar, 25, is the top-ranked American in women’s doubles and won her fourth career WTA doubles title in Brisbane to start 2019. In 2018 she reached the Wimbledon doubles final.
Fed Cup is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with approximately 100 nations taking part each year. The U.S. holds an overall 151-37 record in Fed Cup competition with a 41-6 record in home ties. For more information, including access to player and historical Fed Cup records, go to www.usta.com/fedcup or www.fedcup.com.
