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U.S. vs. Germany Fed Cup this weekend

LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel will provide exclusive coverage of the U.S. Fed Cup team’s competition against Germany in Stuttgart, Germany, this weekend with live and same-day, “Instant Encore” replays Saturday and Sunday. Because the Americans lost in the first round of this year’s tournament, they must defeat Germany in order to compete for the Fed Cup in 2012. If the U.S. team loses, next year will mark the first time since the Fed Cup adopted the home-away format in 1995 that it is ineligible to play for the championship. The United States leads all nations in Fed Cup titles, winning its 17 th in 2000 against Russia.

Play-in competition between the United States and Germany will consist of two singles matches on Saturday, April 16, at 1 p.m. ET, followed by two singles matches and the doubles match Sunday, April 17, at 12 p.m.

Coverage from Porsche Tennis Grand Prix,Stuttgart, Germany (all times ET):

Saturday, April 16:

1 p.m. - Live Singles #1
3 p.m. - Live Singles #2

Sunday, April 17:

12 p.m. - Live Singles #3
2 p.m. - Live Singles #4
4 p.m. - Live Doubles
{1 a.m. - Instant Encore Doubles}

In addition to televising the United States and Germany’s Fed Cup play-in this weekend, Tennis Channel will cover the 2011 Fed Cup semifinal match between Russia and Italy in Moscow. Russia and Italy have faced each other five times in Fed Cup play, with the Russians winning all but one of those meetings. The most recent competition between the two nations was in the 2009 Fed Cup semifinal when Italy beat Russia 4-1 at home. The battle will consist of two singles matches on Saturday, April 16, at 5 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET, followed by two singles matches and the doubles match Sunday, April 17, at 11 p.m. ET.

The United States and Germany have met twelve times, with the United States holding an 8-4 advantage over its German hosts. The Americans enter this weekend’s play-in after falling 4-1 to Belgium in the first-round in February. This is the first time the United States faces elimination from Fed Cup competition since 2002, when it defeated Israel 5-0 in Springfield, Mo. Should the United States lose this weekend it will not be eligible to compete for the Fed Cup in 2012. The Americans have played in the last two Fed Cup finals, losing to Italy both times.

The 2011 U.S. Fed Cup team is captained for the third-consecutive year by retired American tennis starMary Joe Fernandez, who won the Fed Cup championship as a player in 1996. The American team features Vania King, Melanie Oudin, Christina McHale and Liezel Huber.

Germany is bidding to win its way back into the Fed Cup for 2012 this weekend after losing 3-2 to France last year. The team is captained by Barbara Rittner and features Andrea Petkovic, Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Tennis Channel (tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Olympus US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by nine of the top 10 MSOs, Verizon FiOS TV, and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.

Posted on April 14, 2011
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