Taylor predicts a hard fought tie

At today’s pre-draw media conference Australian Fed Cup Captain David Taylor said that the tie in Germany will be tough but a challenge the Australian team are ready for.

“We expect a very hard fought tie,” Taylor said.

“The ticket sales have been good so it will be a very loud tie and the Germans are obviously going to have some amazing support here at Porsche Arena.

“There will be more pressure on the German team, as they have the much stronger team in terms of ranking and depth but we have the highest ranked player so I think we have a great chance.”

Germany’s Fed Cup Captain Barbara Rittner said her team is settling in well but does not underestimate the Australians.

“We have been here for three days now and things are going fine so far,” Rittner said.

“We are very happy to be coming back to Stuttgart for the third time, we all love the arena and we have had a great start.

“I think Australia has a great and strong team, especially Sam Stosur who is top five in the world.

“She has won the US Open and was in the final of Roland Garros so she is a really special player and Gajdosova and Dellacqua are really dangerous and we are aware of that and we have a lot of respect.

“Hopefully on the weekend we will have a bit of luck on our side and of course we will try everything we can to win the tie.”

Australia will be represented by Samantha Stosur (No.5), Jarmila Gajdosova (No.50), Casey Dellacqua (No.101) and Olivia Rogowska (No.120) on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 April 2012 in Stuttgart.

The German side has named Andrea Petkovic (No.11), Angelique Kerber (No.15), Julia Goerges (No.16) and Anna-lena Groenefeld (No.342).

The Fed Cup World Group Play-off tie will be televised on Fox Sports this weekend.

Day One highlights will be on Fox Sports 2 on Sunday at 1130am (AEST) and Day Two will be live on Fox Sports 3 at 8pm (AEST), on Sunday evening.

Australia and Germany have met previously on 11 different occasions with Australia leading the head-to-heads 7-4. The last time the two teams met was in 2001 when Germany won 3-0 in Madrid, Spain, on clay.

The German Fed Cup team lost 4-1 to the Czech Republic in Stuttgart in February in their World Group tie while Australia won 4-1 in Fribourg, Switzerland in their Fed Cup World Group II tie.

The play-offs are taking place alongside the World Group semifinals with promotion and relegation decided for the 2013 Fed Cup season.

The Australian Fed Cup team needs to win this tie to return to the World Group in 2013.

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