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Barty, Sabalenka to lead opposing squads in Fed Cup semis

ByCody Fitzpatrick

Published Apr 17, 2019

And, for France, doubles No. 3 and four-time doubles Slam winner Kristina Mladenovic, who will look to return to Top 10 in singles with the addition of Sascha Bajin, former coach of Naomi Osaka, to her team.

This year, for the first time in a decade, the Fed Cup will be won by a nation other than Italy, the Czech Republic or the USA.

Instead, the final four nations battling it out this weekend for a spot in the championship will be France, Romania, Australia and Belarus—and all four squads are bringing big names to the table.

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To start, the Australia-Belarus semi, to be played on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, is slated to have two new stars as headliners:

For Australia, Miami Open champion Ashleigh Barty, a Top 10 player in both singles and doubles at age 22 ...

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And, for Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka, a Top 10 player at age 20 and a recently crowned doubles champion in both Indian Wells and Miami:

Barty won a perfect three matches in Australia's 3-2 quarterfinal win over the United States in February—against Sonya Kenin and Madison Keys, plus the deciding doubles rubber. Sabalenka, meanwhile, won both of her matches handily in Belarus' 4-0 victory versus Germany.

Barty will be joined on the Australian team by Daria Gavrilova, Priscilla Hon and 2019 Australian Open doubles champion Samantha Stosur. Belarus will also feature Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Victoria Azarenka, Vera Lapko and Lidziya Marozava.

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The France-Romania tie, to be played on indoor clay in Rouen, France, has some stars lined up as well, including reigning Roland Garros champion Simona Halep ...

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France will be led by its highest-ranked singles player, Caroline Garcia, and also include Pauline Parmentier, Alize Cornet and Fiona Ferro. Romania will additionally have Mihaela Buzarnescu, Irina-Camelia Begu, Monica Niculescu and Raluca Olaru.

The USA, relegated to the World Group Play-Offs, is set to feature Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys when the team takes on Switzerland.

All these ties will get underway on Saturday.

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The USA, relegated to the World Group Play-Offs, is set to feature Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys when the team takes on Switzerland.

All these ties will get underway on Saturday.

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Baseline