Belgium face Kazakhstan in Fed Cup qualifier: “It’s going to be very tough”

The sides will face their match in Kortrijk with a place at the inaugural Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals in Budapest at stake. Elise Mertens, joined by Kirsten Flipkens, Ysaline Bonaventure and debutant Greet Minnen, will be anchoring the home side.

“For me, it’s going to be a difficult one – you’ve got a lot of good singles players, especially from Kazakhstan’s two first players,” said Mertens, who is yet to face either of Kazakhstan’s lead duo, Yulia Putintseva and Zarina Diyas.

On paper, the rankings and experience sit with the Belgians – with 27 ties to her name, Flipkens has played almost as many as the Kazakh quartet combined. But Diyas Doskarayev has named a strong quartet for the tie in Kortrijk, with Putintseva and Diyas joined by Anna Danilina and Yaroslava Shvedova.

“It’s going to be very tough,” Mertens conceded. “But I think we have a great team and with the experience we have together we can make it happen.”

Belgian captain Johan Van Herck knows what awaits the winners: “He is really looking forward to these matches,” Mertens said. “It would mean a lot to reach Budapest, because we worked with each other in that group for that week to win, but also to have fun, and I think we can accomplish that."

“I watched Belgium in the Davis Cup Finals, and the format is quite intense – you have to play a lot of matches, but there were a lot of good matches. And for such a small country, we’re doing well.”

Debutant Minnen's comments were along the same lines, “I think it’s a tough team,” she said. “They have a lot of tough players. It would be great to qualify for Budapest – it would mean a lot to us as a team.”

Mertens reflected on her own debut in 2017, “The first time that I played was against Romania,” she recalled. “I didn’t know I was playing until the day of the match, actually. It was 2-0 for us and I made it 3-0. It was the first experience and the first win, a good thing to remember.

"Fed Cup is a little different. On the tour we’re individual players, but it’s nice to play in a team sometimes.” she concluded.

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