Notes on the US v. Belgium first round Fed Cup tie.

The list of floaters almost as impressive as the seed list; tough openers include Kirilenko vs. Cibulkova (winner to face (1) Wozniacki), (5) Schiavone vs. Kleybanova (winner to likely face Hantuchova), possible (3) Clijsters vs. Petrova 2nd rd., former world No. 2 Kuznetova vs. (WC) Dokic, winner to face (4) Stosur vs. Wickmayer winner, (6) Jankovic vs. Rezai, and (2) Zvonareva vs. winner of Pennetta vs. qualifier; 7 of the Top 10 players present in Sydney; Elena Dementieva (now retired) beat Serena Williams (now injured) in the 2010 final…Clijsters (2007, ’03) is the lone returning champ in the field, in addition to the 2008-05 runner-ups Kuznetsova (2008), Jankovic (2007), Schiavone (2006), and Stosur (2005); 11 former No. 1 players have won the Sydney title.

Vandeweghe is much like Oudin when she first appeared on tour — not in the best of shape, with a bit of a “gut” visible, and a poor mover. That changed for Oudin when she worked with her trainers to erase the extra body fat and gain speed. Hopefully that is ahead for Vandeweghe, and not just a reliance on a thumping serve and forehand.

“Winning today, I’d have to say that was probably one of the best moments of my life,” Capra said. “This whole experience has been unreal, and I’m so happy.”

In the semifinals the U.S. will host Russia in April after the Russians defeated Serbia 3-2. In the deciding doubles match Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova defeated Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4 to advance.

Two stunning results this weekend transformed a bland-looking Fed Cup weekend into a shocker.

The 19-year-old Glatch recorded a 6-1, 6-2, victory over world No. 29 Iveta Benesova to even the tie after Czech Petra Kvitova overcame Top 40-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6(2).

Nine of the current Top 10 on the WTA rankings are American, Russian or Serb players.

First-year captain Mary Joe Fernandez will defend U.S. turf with Bethanie Mattek, who is reportedly coming off an injury and missed the Australian Open after getting married, veteran Jill Craybas, rookie Melanie Oudin, and Liezel Huber in doubles with a partner to be named.

Pretty nice line-up we have at Wimbledon on Monday with the entire fourth round – men’s and women’s – scheduled. If you could have only one single ticket in tennis you could make a case this is the day to have it.