Travel disruptions caused by the cloud of volcanic ash that has swept across much of Europe are impacting this weekend’s Fed Cup ties.
In order to reach Hasselt, Belgium, the Estonian Fed Cup team had to take a ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm and then drive another 850 miles.
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova have been grounded in Florida, but are said to have found flights today. Their nations are scheduled to meet in Belgrade and the tie could be delayed.
“We are in a really tricky situation. The tie could yet be postponed,” Serbia Fed Cup team captain, Dejan Vranes told Serbian newspaper Blic. “Jelena will obviously have to spend some time adapting whenever she flies in. So far, we’ve got Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic here. Another player missing for now is Ana Jovanovic [not to be confused with Ana Ivanovic], who is stranded in Munich.”
Jankovic said on her blog that she’s injured but will attempt to play anyway. “My left wrist is hurt, and it has been swollen for almost seven days now. It was getting more and more worse from one match in Charleston to another.”
Dominika Cibulkova has withdrawn from the tie with a groin injury.
So far, the only official rescheduling as a result of the volcanic ash has come in the World Group II Playoffs. The tie between Sweden and China has been delayed by one day to Sunday, while the Saturday start time for the Slovenia against Japan tie has been put back by four hours.—M.C.