5 Things We Learned from Tennis' Fed Cup

Czech Republic clinched the Federation Cup title on Sunday, ousting Russia in a close tie that went down to the decisive doubles match.

Lucie Hradeka and Kveta Peschke beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2, after Petra Kvitova had secured the other two points in singles for her country.

It was the sixth title for the Czechs, but the first one under the name of Czech Republic. The last team’s victory occurred in 1988, when it competed as Czechoslovakia.

Fed Cup and Davis Cup represent the opportunity for players to compete as a team and have a different experience while playing a tough individual sport.

With a few exceptions throughout History, usually players take Fed Cup very seriously and feel that winning it is just as important for their resumes as a Grand Slam title.

Although it is a competition with an unique format that stretches throughout the year, this edition of Fed Cup reflected the course of women’s tennis lately. Shall we take a sneak peek?

1) Tradition No More

The United States and Australia are the two most accomplished teams in Fed Cup’s history, with 17 and 7 titles respectively.

Both teams were relegated and will be playing the Group II in the 2012’s edition of the event.

This illustrates the shift of power that took place in women’s tennis, specially with East European players dominating the scene.

2) Petra Kvitova Establishes Herself as a Top Player

2011 will be remembered as the year that introduced Petra Kvitova to the tennis scene.

After starting the year outside the top 30, she went on to win Wimbledon and the WTA tour final, ending the season as the No. 2 player in the world.

The Fed Cup victory caps this amazing run for the Czech, as she won not only her two singles matches in the final, but all her other six matches in every tie of this year's competition.

3) Team USA Doesn’t Exist without the Williams Sisters

Without Venus and Serena, the US lost all the singles matches in the two ties played this year.

The sole victory was a dead doubles rubber against Belgium in the first round.

This reflects the often spoken crisis and lack of renovation in US tennis.

Captain Mary Joe Fernandez will have to convince the sisters to play in 2012, or things can get really embarrassing for the country with most tradition in the competition. 

4) 2012 Fed Cup Will Be an All-European Affair

Next year's edition of the event might as well be called “European Federation Cup.”

With the Unites States and Australia relegated to Group II, all teams composing the "elite eight" are from Europe: Russia, Spain, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Ukraine, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Once again, this reflects the change and shift of power going on in women’s tennis.

5) Russia Is Still the Dominant Country in Women's Tennis

Despite losing in the final, Russia is still the main force in Fed Cup and in women’s tennis as whole.

They took the decisive match the distance without their two main players. Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova didn’t play due to injury issues.

They have won the title four times in the last eight years and were unbeaten at home in 10 matches.

Russia also has four players in the top 20, which is a higher number than any other country.