World No.6 Petra Kvitova will lead title holders the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup final against Serbia in Prague on November 3-4, the Czech team says.
Kvitova, last year’s Wimbledon champion, will team up with world No.17 Lucie Safarova for the tie, captain Petr Pala told reporters.
Pala has also named Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, world No.3 and No.4 in doubles, who played the Wimbledon and US Open finals and won Olympic silver this year.
“The nomination is never easy but I can say it was easier this time,” Pala said on Wednesday, adding he believed Kvitova would regain her old form after a recent losing streak.
On Tuesday, Kvitova opened her defence of the WTA Championships title in Istanbul by losing to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets.
She subsequently pulled out of the season-ending event with a virus but said she was going to fly home and be ready for the final.
“She always needs about a week to get back into shape,” Pala said.
The finals will be played on a hardcourt in Prague’s O2 Arena which has a capacity of 14,000.
The Czechs won the title last year with Kvitova leading them to a victory over Russia in Moscow. It was their first Fed Cup trophy since the country split from Slovakia in 1993.
The Czechs beat Italy in this year’s semi-finals, while Serbia saw off Russia.
The former Czechoslovakia won five Fed Cup titles between 1975 and 1988.