The 2014 Fed Cup ( Asia Oceania Group 11) is scheduled to take place from the 4th to the 8th of February at the National Tennis Center in Astana, Kazhakastan.
Teams from Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka are set to feature in this year’s tournament.
The Sri Lanka Tennis Association has selected a team comprising Amritha Muttiah, Kemalie Herath, Nethmi Waduge and Medhira Samarasinghe. The team will be led and coached by former fed cup player and former National Women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles champion Shalini De Silva.
Amritha Muttiah
Date of Birth – January 12th 1992
School – Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya
Racket – Wilson BLX
Coaches – Jayendra Wijeyesekera, Dinith Pathiraja
Favorite Player – Serena Williams
Amritha Muttiah is the most experienced member of the 2014 Fed Cup team and is one of the most successful and talented tennis players Sri Lanka has produced. She has dominated the women’s segment of the game for a number of years and has progressed to become a revered and esteemed icon of the sport.
Amritha has won Nationals titles in the under 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 categories and her most memorable achievement was when she was ranked ATF(Asian Tennis Federation) under 14 number 1. She has also achieved a career high under 18 ITF ranking of 329 in the world. Her achievements at a junior level and love for the sport motivated her to work harder, which led to even bigger and more reputed achievements at a senior level. She won the Women’s Singles Nationals title for a grand total of five consecutive years (2009-2013) and has won a triple crown at the Nationals tournament in the year 2009 and 2011.
The Sri Lankan tennis star that has represented the Nation in tournaments such as the World Juniors, Junior Fed Cup, 2008 Fed Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games will be an integral part of the 2014 Fed Cup team.
Thoughts on the 2014 Fed Cup
‘I believe that the team has been working hard and the levels of confidence and motivation are at a high and I personally feel we can perform well as a team and make Sri Lanka proud’
Kemalie Herath
Date of Birth – August 15th 1993
School – St. Bridget’s Convent and Ladies College
Racket – Head Instinct
Coaches – Sriyani Goonerathne, Ricardo de Fonseka, Chrishantha Perera, Sylvester Francis, Sudantha Soysa
Favorite Player – Maria Sharapova
Kemalie Herath who is known for her aggressive and confident style of play is a hardworking and dedicated individual who has gone onto reach great heights in the sport.
She has won under 14, 16 and 18 titles at the SSC open and she was the 2011 Junior Nationals under 18 Runner up. Her most memorable achievement was when she became the 2010 Nationals Women’s runner up. Although she lost the finals she believes that her performances leading up to the finals were good and she believes that the quality of tennis she played was at an exceptionally high level throughout the tournament.
Kemalie who is excited to be a part of the 2014 Fed Cup team has represented Sri Lanka at team events such as the 2008 and 2009 Junior Fed Cup and she will definitely play a key role in Sri Lanka’s attempt to perform at a high level during this year’s tournament.
Thoughts on the 2014 Fed Cup
‘Tennis is more often than not considered to be an individual sport so it is an amazing experience to play alongside the rest of the members of my team and feel what it’s like to play as part of a team and I believe we will all give it our best shot to bring glory to Sri Lanka’
Nethmi Waduge
Date of Birth – 10th August 1998
School – Visakha Vidyalaya
Racket – Babolat
Coaches – Niranjan Casie Chitti, Upul Priyantha
Favorite Player – Novak Djokovic
Nethmi Waduge is a gifted junior player who is a perfect example of the phrase ‘good things come in small sizes’. She is one of the most formidable young guns of the sport and she will definitely be one of the players with the responsibility of ensuring the future of the women’s game in Sri Lanka.
She has won the Junior Nationals under 14 and 16 titles in the year 2012 and she performed exceptionally well in order to secure the position of runner up in the Women’s Nationals event in the same year.
Nethmi has represented Sri Lanka at the Junior Fed Cup and World Juniors and she will undoubtedly play a key role in Sri Lanka’s 2014 Fed Cup team.
Thoughts on the 2014 Fed Cup
‘I’m only 15 years old and I believe that it is a great honor to be selected to represent my country at an event of this nature at such a young age. The training in itself has been a wonderful experience and I hope to put everything I’ve learnt into practice in order to perform well for my country’
Medhira Samarasinghe
Date of Birth – 3rd of February 1999
School – Ladies College
Racket – Babolat
Coaches – Shalini De Silva
Favorite Player – Roger Federer
Medhira Samarasinghe who is only 14 years of age is the youngest member of the Sri Lankan Fed Cup team. She is a highly skilled and determined player who is yet another bright prospect for the future of the sport of tennis in Sri Lanka.
She won the under 14 junior Nationals singles and doubles titles in the year 2013 and secured her greatest win in the same year when she teamed up with Thewuni Devaraja to win the Womens Doubles Nationals Title. She represented Sri Lanka at the South Asian Zone 2 championships and due to her brilliant performance she was selected to be a part of the ITF (International Tennis Federation) touring team.
Although Medhira doesn’t have as much experience as most players who are likely to feature in the tournament her exuberance and confidence on court are sure to add great value to the Sri Lankan team.
Thoughts on the 2014 Fed Cup
‘Playing Fed Cup for my country has always been a dream that I wanted to achieve and I feel amazing that I was able to achieve this dream of mine at such a young age. Our team has been practicing very hard and I feel that we can do well at this year’s tournament’
The Papare takes this opportunity to wish the Sri Lankan Team the very best ahead of preparation for the 2014 Fed Cup.
