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Picture Credit: Twitter

Indian tennis team will be facing Latvia in the historic tie of the Billie Jean King Cup (earlier known as Fed Cup) playoffs on April 16-17 in Jurmala. Ahead of the big game, Indian tennis player Sania Mirza told the team to not be overwhelmed by the reputation of the opponents.  “Remember, the pressure is on Latvia” said Sania.

The opposition is led by Jelena Ostapenko, 2017 French Open champion, besides Anastasija Sevastova, Diana Marcinkevica, Daniela Vismane and 18-year-old Patricija Spaka in their ranks.

Great opportunity for the young girls

Speaking of the historic tie, Sania said that it’s a great opportunity for all the young girls, as it will give a lot of exposure and experience to them. “They are young and obviously willing and excited to be here. They are going to learn a lot from it, win or lose,” Sania stated.  She further highlighted that the girls will have to take it as any other game and forget the situation they are in.

The Indian team consists of India No.1  Ankita Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Rutuja Bhosale, Zeel Desai besides Sania Mirza. Former tennis player, Vishal Uppal, is the non-playing captain of the team,

Home-and-Away format

Unlike the conventional round-robin basis, which is followed in the group stages, this maiden playoff will also see the Indian women being involved in playing the home and away format for the first time.

The two teams will be facing each other for the first time in the competition and the winner of the tie will advance to the World Group Qualifiers in 2022.