 Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Llamera
Date: 24 Apr 2009 |
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| 24 Apr 2009 - Club Nautico, Mar del Plata - Rodrigo Valdebenito | |
| Argentina and Ukraine fight for elite place |
Argentina will play Ukraine in Mar del Plata without its best players, a situation that makes it very difficult for the South Americans to keep their place in the World Group.
Jorgelina Cravero has been drawn to open up Argentina's World Group Play-off tie against Ukraine on Friday against Mariya Koryttseva. Argentina and Ukraine have never met before in Fed Cup competition, and Cravero and Koryttseva have never faced each other at any level. Cravero does have more experience in Fed Cup and holds an impressive 6-1 singles win-loss in the competition, while the Ukrainian has only previously played one singles rubber, she lost her first Fed Cup singles match to Francesca Schiavone in 2008.
Argentina is bidding to reclaim its World Group spot having lost to USA in the opening round in February, while Ukraine has never held a place among the elite teams.
Saturday
Jorgelina Cravero (ARG) v Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)
Maria Irigoyen (ARG) v Alona Bondarenko (UKR)
Sunday
Jorgelina Cravero (ARG) v Alona Bondarenko (UKR)
Maria Irigoyen (ARG) v Mariya Koryttseva(UKR)
Paula Ormaechea/Aranza Salut (ARG) v Kateryna Bondarenko/Olga Savchuk (UKR)
Ukraine always had a more balanced team than Argentina, but when Gisela Dulko decided to skip this tie, the Eastern Europeans became the major favourite. The loss of Betina Jozami last week, due to an injury, has only reduced the chances the home team already had against Ukraine.
Pressure on Cravero
“Playing without Gisela is a very big problem,” admitted Ricardo Rivera, Argentina’s captain. “She’s our Top 30 player, has played a lot of Fed Cup ties.”
“We also lost Betina (Jozami) at the last moment, due to an injury, we will miss her too. She has played Fed Cup for two years now, four ties…. She’ll be missed.” Maria Irigoyen, who usually competes on the ITF Women’s Circuit, was nominated as a replacement.
The fact that Argentina is fielding Irigoyen as second singles player shows it does not have too much to rely on anyway. Aranza Salut and Paula Ormaechea are two promising young players, but neither has too much experience at this level and are not even ranked among the world’s top 400.
This means that Jorgelina Cravero will have to take the responsibility in her hands and do whatever she can to keep Argentina’s hopes of remaining in the Workl Group alive.
Ukraine comfortable
The Eastern European team is clearly the favorite, with all their players ranked better than Argentina’s No. 1. But they are not taking anything for granted.
“We don’t know what is going to happen in the court,” said captain Volodymyr Bogdanov.
“(Gisela) Dulko is a very good player, I don’t know why she isn’t here. But our team has been in this city for seven days, preparing the match, and I think they are ready to play against anyone from Argentina.”
Ukraine has been practising in order to get used to the very slow clay court. Mar del Plata (nicknamed “The Happy City” in Argentina) is a coastal city, attracting a lot of tourists in summer but cooler during the current Southern Hemisphere fall. The weather has been sunny, but cool Atlantic winds prevail and may be a factor at the Nautico club.
It’s a hard task for Argentina, which now has to prove they do not depend on Dulko to be among the best teams in women’s tennis. Ukraine, on the other hand, has a good chance to move up to the World Group, which they are keen to take.
Related Links on other websites
> Información en español - AAT
> Information in Ukrainian - UTF
Related Links on Fedcup.com
> Tie Information
Related audio
 Interview with captain Volodymyr Bogdanov (UKR) - draw day
Interview with captain Ricardo Rivera (ARG) - draw day
 
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