British Fed Cup captain Judy Murray has picked a surprising squad for Britain's first Fed Cup tie of the year with former number one Laura Robson brought back in from the cold and sixteen year-old Katie Swan selected for the first time. They join Heather Watson, Johanna Konta, Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith ahead of the tie between 3rd and 6th of February in Israel.
A strong team hope to finally banish Fed Cup woe
For Great Britain, the tie in the Middle East represents a real chance to finally escape the lower echelons of the Fed Cup as they look to earn promotion from Europe Group I. Having reached the knockout round last year, courtesy of wins against minnows Lichtenstein and then Ukraine, Belarus would prove too good for the Brits, with Olga Govortsova particularly effusive in her win over Johanna Konta.
It now means that the last time the British team played higher than Group I was way back in 1993 when they contested the World Group. That year, losses to Spain and Poland sent them straight back down to Group I where, apart from several low years in Group II, they have played exclusively since.
But with Johanna Konta now a fully functioning member of the top-fifty club and Heather Watson not far behind, Murray will be hoping for better things this year.
Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith complete the line-up, Scotswoman Rae is an accomplished doubles player who won the Commonwealth Mixed Doubles gold medal back in 2010, and Smith is the owner of 21 ITF doubles titles. They are the likely doubles pairing should any of the matches need deciding with a third contest and they won all three of their matches together in last year's competition.
For Laura Robson, her inclusion in particular marks a new stage in her comeback. Having hardly played at all in 2015 due to her recovery from a wrist injury, she will be hoping for better luck this time around. Now the world number 558, just to stay fit and healthy for the full season would represent success. Katie Swan, however, enjoyed a far more successful on the junior circuit as she reached the Australian Open final and the quarters of Wimbledon.
Whislt both Robson and Swan may be seen only as subs, the experience for Swan will prove vital and the match practice for Robson equally so.