Fed Cup captain Liptak: Hantuchova would help steady coachYesterday | 15:00 BRATISLAVA - Fed Cup captain Matej Liptak would like to go to Slovakia and the bench next season. After a weekend home victory 4: 0 win over Sweden we talk to him.
Keep your team in the second. World group. Where Slovak female tennis performance-is?
"The potential is large, but our results strongly influences the composition of the team. We must do everything we can to regularly played at full strength. In this case, we can compete with the best teams of the world. In addition, we still need to improve doubles that is our weakness. The dominant country in the recent years as Czech or Italy can precisely Deblov decide balanced matches. "Slovakia has two players, which doubles no stranger. Daniela Hantuchova in the past world deblových foot, Magdalena Rybarikova forwarded last year in the Wimbledon doubles semi-finals. Why not generate them deblových Fed Cup couple of which we could rely on?
"nehravam together at tournaments. Czechs or Italians have pairs that are warm and know what they expect from each other. The second factor is the emotions and pressures that bring Fed Cup matches . In doubles, we definitely work to do. It would be good if we Vyrys good deblových couple. With him by our strength has increased significantly. "Against Sweden have given a chance in doubles Čepelová Jane and Anne Carolina Schmiedlova. Do you count them in Deblov in the future?
"I wanted to test this alternative, so I wonder if I can count on with it. They showed pretty good. However, it was seen that deblových lacking match practice. Slovaks are doubles low position, and therefore not to play together in most tournaments, even if they wanted to. It's a very difficult situation. Free cards can not find one. deblových spider to get more or less the only Grand Slam tournaments. would need to have a better outcome Jinx to move in position doubles together and could start on other events. "Team enriched in recent years young players. Is the current Slovak team when he takes vengeance, best quality from your taking office in 2009?
"Yes."At press conferences, we noticed significant progress in getting off the talented Anna Carolina Schmiedlova. Until recently, she worked very alarmed, but as has already gained more confidence ...
"I see it just as well as me. When she came to the team, has been tightened and timid. The team we have it a bit 'punched', that it was the 'normal girl' . After one-two matches were oťukala and helped her not only in the Fed Cup, but also in tournaments. There is increasing its experience in major tournaments and challenging games. Thanks to its growing self-confidence as it increases the quality of the game. This is seen in the results . If this trend continues, the position gets very high. "The team was the second time the 17-year-old Kristina Schmiedlová, which is said to be perhaps even more talent than her sister. What is the potential of your point of view?
"It's really great talent, but has yet to be wearing a lot of work to get to the level of nurses and other hráčok the team. So far with it still can not be counted as one of the Fed Cup alternatives. However, this can quickly change. One, two or three years of it may be the server on which we will build the team. When wearing the work is very promising. "Daniela Hantuchova highlighted after Saturday's match your work. She said that during her Fed Cup week can excellently prepared. In 2011, you were the coach. Why your cooperation ended after one season?
"is another tune hráčkinu game for a week and try to move it somewhere throughout the year. Our opinions were divided, and therefore did not continue cooperation. This does not mean that you do not understand. We know it advise and it is only good that Daniela even after our separation continues to respect my opinions. Therefore in the Fed Cup feels supported and performing well. "Hantuchova was replaced in November 2008 by eleven different coaches. Why it can not find a stable coach?
"Very quickly trying to look for changes. still looks for new impulses, which are not always good. Every coach will pass something else, and of which there may be almost as chaos. It would certainly be helped if he had a stable coach who could trust, even if it fails. Link the players and the coach must be based on trust. Then shall appear the results. "His compatriot arrived over the weekend to encourage NTC also injured toys Dominika Cibulkova and Magdalena Rybarikova. How did you feel about their support?
"This shows that our team is a good team spirit, is it a great atmosphere, the girls have good relationships with each other and like Fed Cup. Rumours that the last matches we lacked for toys bad relationships were false. Unfortunately, it's hard to convince people who are not in the affairs team directly involved. However, I very well know that the players are looking forward to the matches. " @ google translate
Slovakia in search of a doubles team
NEWS ARTICLE
By Clive White
With one singles player in the Top 10 before she got injured and three more in or around the Top 50, Matej Liptak would appear to be one Fed Cup captain who has it all. Why, he even has the current junior Australian Open singles champion waiting in the wings, but still he isn’t satisfied.
“I need a strong doubles team,” said the Slovak captain after watching his players brush aside a weakened Sweden side in Bratislava and begin the long climb back from World Group II to the very top of the game, which is where it undoubtedly belongs.
While Slovakia might be able to reach the World Group next year without a recognized pair it will certainly need one once it gets there: just this past weekend victory in the doubles secured Russia its place in the final while defeat in this specialized event cost United States - the most successful Fed Cup nation of all - and Poland their seats at the top table.
“It’s good for the future that we have four or five really good [singles] players,” said Liptak.
“Maybe for me the only thing is the doubles. I need to work on it because in the Fed Cup it’s sometimes a really important point.
“To win the ties in the singles is not possible every time so you need a strong doubles. You can see from teams like Czech [Republic] and Italy, the reason why they’re always there at the end of this competition is because they have strong doubles, so we need to work on it and then the Slovak team will be one of the best.”Slovakia’s strength in depth saw it through against Sweden. Despite being without its No. 1 player, Dominika Cibulkova – who should be back in time for the grass court season following an Achilles operation - and Magdalena Rybarikova, it still managed to field a strong team. Sweden, on the other hand, lost the services of Johanna Larsson and was rendered helpless.
Of course, it helps when you have a player coming through in leaps and bounds as Slovakia did in Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. In the middle of last year the 20-year-old went three months without winning a single match, but hard work in the off-season has paid off handsomely.
In the space of two months she has risen 29 places to No. 46 in the world and last week won her first WTA title, the Katowice Open, in which she beat players of the ilk of Alize Cornet, of France, and the excellent young Italian Camila Giorgi, both in straight sets – and it wasn’t even her preferred surface.
With her clay court shoes on, she was promoted to No. 1 in Cibulkova’s absence and handled the extra responsibility admirably in what was her first home tie, winning both her singles rubbers as well as the dead doubles rubber alongside Jana Cepelova.
Liptak made it clear he intends to build the team around her and if Tereza Mihalikova, the junior Australian Open champion, develops as they expect her to she could have strong support in the coming years.
Last but not least is Daniela Hantuchova, the woman who started it all back in 2002 when as a teenage sensation she led the newly independent state to its one and only Fed Cup title by contributing two points to a 3-1 win in Spain.
Looking far younger than her years – she will be 32 this week – while playing with all the know-how gleaned in that time, she registered her 37th Fed Cup singles victory in emphatic fashion, dropping just two games. She, too, is excited about Slovakia’s future.
“I’m just happy that if I would stop playing tomorrow we’ve got a great future ahead of us,” she said.
“I can walk away feeling good about women’s tennis in Slovakia.”She is not about to do that sometime soon, as she was quick to stress to FedCup.com. As this young nation readies itself for the tricky climb that lies ahead, Liptak knows he will be drawing heavily upon her expertise.