Kristina
Mladenovic 3-6, 6-4, 14-16 Karolina Pliskova (Fed Cup Final Rubber 1)
Many were
shocked when the French Tennis Federation chose to play on indoors hard courts,
instead of indoors clay courts, which the French players have an advantage on.
The courts in Strasbourg looked pretty fast as compared to the rest of the hard
court events on the tour, and that gave an advantage to Czech Republic as their
crucial players like Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova are hard hitters and
prefer fast surfaces. Nevertheless, the French team also has hard hitters like
Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, which makes this tie even more
exciting.
The draw
was conducted in a local parliament the day before, and it saw Kristina
Mladenovic, the French No.2 start against the Czech No.1 and her good friend
Karolina Pliskova. Following that match is the French No.1 player Caroline
Garcia facing Czech No.2 and recent Zhuhai Elite Trophy winner Petra Kvitova.