AFP, Prague :
World number four Petra Kvitova will lead the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup final against Germany in Prague on November 8-9, team captain Petr Pala said on Monday.
Pala also named 17th-ranked Lucie Safarova, 27th-ranked Karolina Pliskova, and a reunited doubles pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to the broader five-member team.
“I’m glad to have these five girls. Only the week before the tie will show us what the final four-member team will be like,” said Pala.
Hlavackova, the world number 14 for doubles, and 23rd-ranked Hradecka had an emotional split last year after winning two grand slam titles, a Fed Cup title and the Olympic silver in London together.
They will now play several minor ITF tournaments ahead of the Fed Cup final on the Novacrylic Ultracushion hardcourt of Prague’s O2 Arena.
“I talked to Lucie (Hradecka) and she said she was ready to play with anyone,” Pala said, suggesting Hradecka had no hard feelings towards Hlavackova who had initiated the split.
Stalwarts Kvitova — the 24-year-old reigning Wimbledon champion — and Safarova, who is 27, led the Czechs to Fed Cup titles in 2011 and 2012.
The 22-year-old Pliskova has shown a growing form as she won WTA tournaments in Seoul in September and in Linz, Austria last weekend.
“Karolina is a promise for the future and one day we may rely on her, so it’s good to have her with us,” Pala told reporters.
Germany last won the competition in 1992 with a team comprising Steffi Graf and current Fed Cup captain Barbara Rittner.
