{"id":758,"date":"2016-11-18T10:27:01","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T15:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=758"},"modified":"2017-08-22T17:37:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T21:37:26","slug":"five-finest-fed-cup-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2016\/11\/18\/five-finest-fed-cup-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"The Five Finest Fed Cup Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, the Czech Republic<\/strong> won its third Fed Cup<\/strong> in a row and its fifth in the last six years, establishing themselves as undoubtedly one of the finest of all Fed Cup teams. But where does this current Czech side rank in the all-time list of great Fed Cup sides? Here are the five finest, in ascending order.<\/p>\n

5. RUSSIA (2004-2008)<\/h3>\n

Russia<\/strong> almost matched the current Czech side, as it won four out of five Fed Cups in the mid-noughties. It was truly a golden age for Russian women\u2019s tennis as it reaped the dividends of the International Olympic Committee’s<\/strong> historic decision to readmit tennis to the Olympics<\/strong> in Seoul<\/strong> in 1988 for the first time since 1924. As a result of tennis becoming an Olympic sport again, greater coverage and funding, especially in former Communist countries, led to a flowering of Russian female talent some two decades later, including Svetlana Kuznetsova<\/strong>, Elena Dementieva<\/strong> and Ana Myskina<\/strong>, with the most famous Russian female of all, Maria Sharapova<\/strong>, belatedly making her debut in the 2008 competition. In this period, \u201cMother Russia\u201d (and all her daughters) wielded a tennis racket.<\/p>\n

4. SPAIN (1991-1998)<\/h3>\n

If Russia dominated the noughties, the 1990s belonged to Spanish women. Between 1991 and 1998 they won five titles, including a hat-trick between 1993 and 1995, and were runners-up twice. The heartbeat of that side was the great Arantxa S\u00e1nchez Vicario<\/strong>, who played in all of Spain\u2019s<\/strong> winning sides in that decade. She was ably assisted by Conchita Mart\u00ednez<\/strong>, who played in four of the five title wins and often paired with S\u00e1nchez Vicario in doubles. In many ways, the Spanish women paved the way for their male compatriots, who achieved the same kind of dominance in the Davis Cup<\/strong> in the noughties. Consequently, there is a certain pleasing symmetry in the fact that Conchita Mart\u00ednez is now the captain of both Spain\u2019s Fed Cup team and<\/em> Davis Cup team.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n