Location: Palais des Sports Beaublanc, Limoges, France
Stadium Capacity: 4240
Date: 25 April - 26 April 2009
Day 1: 1330 hrs (1130 hrs GMT)
Day 2: 1300 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Surface: Red Clay - Indoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Roland Garros French Open

French team nominations:
Alizé CORNET
Amélie MAURESMO
Nathalie DECHY
Mathilde JOHANSSON

Slovak team nominations:
Dominika CIBULKOVA
Daniela HANTUCHOVA
Magdalena RYBARIKOVA
Lenka WIENEROVA


Slovakia won the only previous meeting between the two nations, defeating France 4-1 in the 2002 quarterfinal, en route to the Fed Cup title.

I really can't see Slovakia winning this

I don't like to be the "bad guy" but I really don't think that Daniela can win against Cornet or against Mauresmo .

I really think that Daniela's only hope of winning against Cornet is if she plays like she played against Cohen-Aloro in 1st round of Barcelona (she lost 6-0 6-3) .
Anything better than that , Daniela will sucumb to pressure , IMO

For me, it's obvious that Daniela will beat Alizé Dominika too. Alizé has no self-confidence at the moment and she has never won in Fed Cup

I've actually kinda changed my mind on Daniela's fed cup prospects. She nearly always plays some solid tennis when she's playing for her country. I think she has a fighting chance against Cornet. It might be the time for Daniela to finally exert some dominance over someone she used to have the edge over.

Daniela was watching the semi-final in the company of Larry Passos,who coached Gustavo Kuerten to 3 French Open titles,and has been a long-time admirer of Andy Murray.

Good to see Daniela watching two of my faves in action!

It's a difficult tie to predict because no one is going into it in dominant form.

Daniela's been beating who she should beat this year but she hasn't beaten a top player yet and was beaten twice by Cornet and clay is her weakest surface. At the same time, she always raises her game and fights when it's Fed Cup and she's got a good Fed Cup record. She'll want to get revenge against Cornet and her matches with Mauresmo have always been close. What would Guga do?
Dominika beat Mauresmo and Cornet on clay at Amelia Island last year. But she had to withdraw in Charleston - she also retired in Miami- so we don't know how fit she is. It'll be difficult for Slovakia to win the tie if she's not fit.

Mauresmo's had decent results this year but her recent Fed Cup results have been fairly average and her recent results at Roland Garros haven't been great. Playing in France isn't always an advantage for her and I've always felt that Daniela matches up well with her.
Cornet beat Daniela twice earlier in the year, but her form's gone down since culminating in her bad loss in Barcelona. She's also 0-4 in Fed Cup. France lost 5-0 to Italy at home in February and while Mauresmo rebounded by winning Paris, Cornet's results have been fairly modest since losing to Venus in Dubai.

It could be close or someone could win easily. I wouldn't be totally shocked by whatever happens.

I think it'll all come down to the doubles. 3-2 to either team. I think Daniela will win one and lose one, but I agree it's a very intriging tie.