Belarus unchanged for Fed Cup semifinals against Switzerland

Posted April 12, 2017 7:00 am

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Belarus named an unchanged team for the Fed Cup semifinals against Switzerland on Wednesday, without a single player in the top 100.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich leads a team also featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Olga Govortsova and Vera Lapko, the squad which beat the Netherlands 4-1 in the first round.

Belarus' best-known player, former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, isn't available for the April 22-23 series in Minsk. She will return to action in July after giving birth to her first child.

Switzerland later named its quartet, including No. 22 Timea Bacsinszky, 54th-ranked Viktorija Golubic and Belinda Bencic.

Although Bencic was ranked No. 7 just over a year ago, the 20-year-old player has slumped to No. 131.

Former No. 1 Martina Hingis, now 36, was selected to play doubles in pursuit of a first Swiss title in Fed Cup.

Switzerland is looking to reach only its second final, and first since 1998 when a teenage Hingis was ranked No. 1.

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