While the United States Fed Cup Team prepares to go toe-to-toe with Germany in Maui this weekend, Team USA is all over the qualifying draw here in Doha…
Coco Vandeweghe, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Alison Riske and Shelby Rogers are in Hawaii to take-on Team Germany, featuring Andrea Petkovic, Julia Georges, Laura Siegemund and Carina Witthoeft. World #2, US Open Champion and Germany’s ace, Angelique Kerber is already here in Qatar preparing for main-draw play.
Saturday’s Qatar Total Open qualifying matches include SIX Americans:
[1] Christina Mchale (USA) vs. [WC] Ons Jabeur (TUN)
[3] Lauren Davis (USA) vs. Julia Boserup (USA)
Cici Bellis (USA) vs. [5] Shuai Peng (CHN)
Vania King (USA) vs. [8] Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
Madison Brengle (USA) vs. Danka Kovinic (MNE)
Qualifying Singles Draw | Qualifying Order of Play
Matches start at 11:00. Cici kick-starts the day on Court-1 while Madison Brengle will launch play on Court-4.
While Team USA features six athletes in the qualifying draw, four Russians and three players from Japan will take a stab at reaching the main draw this weekend. Three-time Doha Semifinalist, Jelena Jankovic – who has slipped to World #50 – earned a wild card into qualifying. As the #2 qualifying seed, she’ll face Japan’s Nao Hibino in the second match on Court-1.
Cici Bellis
It’s great to see Cici Bellis finally get back to match competition. Last year was huge for the 17-year-old. After reaching the 3rd-Round of the US Open, she signed with IMG, turned pro, then won three consecutive titles. During the pre-season in December, she pulled her hamstring during an afternoon practice session and has been sidelined since.
* How quickly we forget: Cici is the young American who won hearts in Flushing three years ago, when at 14-years-old, she defeated the 12-seed and Australian Open Finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first round.
