Why the 2015 Fed Cup Will Be More Exciting Than the Davis Cup

Andy Murray's quest to bring Great Britain its first Davis Cup title since 1936 makes for a compelling late-season story. However, the Fed Cup tie promises to be a more exciting event.

The Petra Kvitova-led Czech Republic hosts Maria Sharapova and the rest of the Russian Federation this weekend in Prague at the 2015 Fed Cup final. Murray and the Brits take on Belgium in Brussels, on clay, November 27-29. 

When it comes to comparing the WTA and ATP Tours, the men outperform the women in terms of prize money earned and sets played. The women are sometimes criticized for poor serving and failing to consistently play high-quality matches. Men's tennis is commonly considered a better product. 

That won't be the case this month. The Fed Cup presents the far more intriguing matchup. It's the powerhouse Czechs, winners of three of the last four Fed Cup titles against the Russians, who are trying to win their first title since 2008. The Czechs have won eight Fed Cup titles. Only the Americans have won more (17). 

The Davis Cup takes place second, but the Fed Cup is in no way the undercard. If you like hard-hitting, competitive tennis with a host of personalities and probabilities, tune in to the Czech-Russian show down.

Despite Murray's celebrity status and quest for history, the Fed Cup has more accomplished players, a real rivalry and plenty of drama.

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

The Fed Cup Has More Elite Players

This marks the first time Sharapova will play in an international team final. "I'm just looking forward to the experience; it's something new for me," Sharapova told reporters. 

One of the biggest names in women's tennis, Sharapova is not the only elite player participating in this week's Fed Cup matchup.  

Five to six of the players participating in this Fed Cup tie have been in the Top 10. Svetlana Kuznetsova is on standby if Ekaterina Makarova is too injured to play.

If Kuznetsova plays, a combined nine Grand Slam titles in singles would be represented in Prague.

Lucie Safarova, French Open finalist this year, won the Australian Open and French Open doubles titles with Bethanie Mattek Sands. Karolina Pliskova has been ranked as high as No. 7. Currently ranked No. 11, Pliskova reached the finals at the WTA Elite Trophy where she lost to Venus Williams. 

Russians Makarova and Elena Vesnina have teamed up to win the 2014 U.S. Open, 2013 French Open and 2013 Indian Wells titles. Pictured at practice in a Twitter post above, the two have also been runner-up at the 2014 Australian Open and Miami, as well as the WTA championships. 

Makarova was a semifinalist at the 2014 U.S. Open. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova rounds out the Russian team. Once ranked as high as No. 13, Pavlyuchenkova is capable of taking out any player on the Czech team. In fact, she's 5-2 against Safarova. Pavlyuchenkova is 3-6 against Kvitova. 

Although Kuznetsova hasn't been officially added to the roster, she made the trip to Prague and is on standby. 

Meanwhile, Murray and his brother Jamie, a doubles specialists, are the biggest names in the Davis Cup final.

The Belgians are led by No. 16, David Goffin, a solid player but nowhere close to being "a name." The second-best player on the team, Steve Darcis, is ranked No. 84. Belgium squeaked by Argentina in the semifinals, 3-2. The Argentinians were without their biggest star, Martin Del Potro, who has been nursing wrist injuries. Their top player in the tie was Leonardo Mayer, No. 35 at the time. 

Natural Rivalry

The Czechs versus the Russians is a natural rivalry between countries with long-standing bad blood. From hockey to basketball, these two countries have heated rivalries across sports. As Czech hockey player Tomas Fleischmann told the NHL.com, "There's a little bit of a rivalry there because they kind of owned our country for a couple of years."

There is also the rivalry between Kvitova and Sharapova. A 19-year-old Kvitova upset Sharapova in the 2011 Wimbledon final.

Sharapova leads the head-to-head matches 6-4. However, Kvitova just defeated Sharapova twice at the WTA Championships in Singapore.

Kvitova loves being part of the Fed Cup team. In an interview with Fed Cup, Kvitova told reporters, “Sometimes I ask myself ‘why didn’t I play a team sport?’ because I really like it. On the other side because we don’t have much team competition [in tennis] I enjoy it more.”

"

The 2015 #FedCup final features #Sharapova, #Kvitova and #Safarova. And it will be epic. > https://t.co/GUSfZ37KeQ pic.twitter.com/NOo9HQ4jLo

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) November 12, 2015"

Infighting

Sharapova's presence at Fed Cup brings up some Russian infighting that's gone on for years. For some players, resentment is rooted in the Americanized Russian grabbing the spotlight despite being a resident of the U.S. since age seven.

Sharapova was selected to carry the Russian flag at the 2012 Olympics. She was also a torch bearer at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

In 2004, Anastasia Myskina, that year's French Open champion,  threatened to boycott the Fed Cup play if Sharapova joined the team. 

Myskina told the Guardian, "I don't want to be on the same team with people who don't show respect to me as a person...If she [Sharapova] joins our team next season, you won't see me there."

Now Russian Fed Cup captain, Myskina appears all smiles with Sharapova at press conferences. 

More Competitive 

Another reason the Fed Cup tie will make for better viewing than the Davis Cup is that the players are more evenly matched. You've got big hitters who are familiar with each other's game. All of these women have played in high-stakes matches. All of them have won titles and most have played in a Grand Slam final.

Although the Russians are considered underdogs, they could have two players (Sharapova and Kuznetsova) with a combined seven Grand Slam titles. Kvitova, 25, has two Wimbledon titles and won her first before Murray, who is the only player in the Davis Cup tie to play in a Grand Slam final.  

Great Britain is a heavy favorite against Belgium. John McEnroe told the Telegraph that Great Britain has an 80 percent chance of winning the tie. 

"

To me Great Britain should win. It’s set up for them. There will be pressure for Murray, but the way he handled it against Australia, he’ll handle it again and win two singles, and it would be nice if he did it again with his brother ... It’s more difficult on the road, but I pick Great Britain. Even in the second singles they have an outside shot. They should win this tie eight out of 10 times. I don’t want to put any pressure on but they should win that match!

"

So while Murray and his pursuit of more British glory grabs more headlines for the Davis Cup, there are far more reasons to watch the Fed Cup.

So this weekend, while the college football playoff race continues to unfold, the NBA season remains fresh and new and the NFL contenders began to separate themselves from the pretenders, set aside some time to tune in to the Fed Cup finals.  It just might be the most exciting sports matchup this weekend.