While the Davis Cup picked up a ton of attention last weekend in its wild new format, the women will get their turn to hog the spotlight this weekend. The 2019 Fed Cup begins on Saturday with the defending champion Czech team taking on Romania, the United States facing Australia, Belgium playing France and Germany battling Belarus.

Let's take a closer look at the United States tie against Australia, taking place in Asheville, N.C. on indoor hard courts.

Team USA will include Madison Keys, Danielle Collins, Sofia Kenin and Nicole Melichar. At No. 17, Keys leads the red, white and blue. She was part of the 2018 team that reached the final, but missed the title match with a knee injury.

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Collins is on fire after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and rising to a career-high ranking of No. 23. Though she was in Prague for the 2018 Fed Cup final, she didn't play so this weekend could be her debut.

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Kenin did get on the court for her rookie debut in last year's Fed Cup final, dropping two tough matches to an experienced Czech team. The 20-year-old will be even more confident going into this tie having won her first career WTA title last month in Hobart.

The Americans will face a stiff challenge from Team Australia, which include world No. 13 Ashleigh Barty, Daria Gavrilova, Priscilla Hon, Kimberly Birrell and Astra Sharma.

Barty just reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, in front of her home crowd in Melbourne.

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World No. 157-ranked Birrell reached the third round at the Australian Open as a wildcard, while Sharma made the mixed doubles final with John-Patrick Smith. The tie will begin on Saturday with singles.

Keys, Collins set
for Fed Cup tie
vs. Australia

Keys, Collins set for Fed Cup tie vs. Australia

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