Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Not every surface can be perfect. When the Fed Cup Final begins on Saturday in Prague, the Czechs know that the court won’t be slow on hard courts in the stadium, but it won’t be super quick either.

The Czechs will face Russia, hoping to win the title for the third time in the last four years at the 02 Arena. The big Petra Kvitova, who has won Wimbledon twice, loves it when she can rip the ball, winning the Fed Cup over Germany in 2014.

However, another top 10 player, the Czech Lucie Safarova, has won some big matches, including in 2013, when she was the hero against Serbia.

Safarova, who reached the French Open final this year on clay, likes the surface when it’s a little slower.

The Czech captain Petr Pala has to make sure that both of his team is pleased.

“The surface is our game,” Pala said. “It’s a little slower. It’s not exactly the same, but it will be faster by the end of week. It can’t be perfect.”

The Russian captain Anastasia Myskina has decided that Maria Sharapova will play in the singles, but she has yet to decide whether Ekaterina Makarova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will play the singles. Due to injury, Makarova hasn’t played since the US Open due to an injury. Pala agreed that he isn’t sure who will have to match up against Kvitova.

In fact, Pala says that outside Kvitova, he hasn’t decided who he will play on the Saturday against Sharapova: Safarova or Katarina Pliskova.

Safarova just returned a few weeks ago due to injury, and Pliskova reached the final last week in Zhuhai.

The coaches don’t have to decide the draws until Friday.

The five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova said that the Russians would face a huge challenge to try and win the title.
Kvitova has been here before, but when she gets on court she won’t be smiling and dancing around.

“I was nervous every time I step on court,” Kvitova said. “Especially here, when the full crowd is cheering for us. It’s going to be difficult. But we have a big history.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.