Almost exactly seven years ago, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic were hugging each other in the O2 arena in Prague.

Kerber had just lost a rousing match against the Czech Petra Kvitová, and her defeat sealed the German defeat in the Fed Cup final.

She shuffled off the seat with her head bowed.

Petkovic, her friend and teammate, met her there.

Julia Görges, Sabine Lisicki and Anna-Lena Grönefeld, the other members of the German team, also joined them.

And while the cheers roared around them, this knot of disappointed people formed a small stronghold against the pain.

Pirmin Clossé

Sports editor.

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Seven years later, Kerber and Petkovic are back in Prague. At the press conference before the match against the Czech Republic this Monday, the two sit next to each other on the podium. They smile and laugh a lot. At least when they are answering a question. Because immediately afterwards it says: Mask on! The pandemic is not over in the Czech Republic either, and the security measures are high. Kerber in particular remembers the lost final in 2014 well. "When I was on the center court for training for the first time, some memories came up," she says. Despite everything, it was "a highlight" of her career. "The atmosphere was incredibly beautiful."

Much is different than it was then. Starting with the competition, of course. The Fed Cup is now called the Billie Jean King Cup, named after the great champion of women's tennis in the 1970s. It also no longer extends over the entire tennis season, spread over several rounds with home and away games. It is now compressed into a tournament format. Group stage, semi-finals, finals, all within a week, all in one place.

You have to look at it first before you can decide whether it is good or bad, says Kerber.

Team colleague Annalena Friedsam at least feels “a flair like at a soccer World Cup” because the competition doesn't drag on for months.

Kerber and Petkovic's teammates are also different in 2021 than in 2014. Görges and Grönefeld have ended their careers, Lisicki is currently fighting to continue after one of many injuries.

Instead, Friedsam is there, along with 22-year-old Jule Niemeier and 18-year-old Nastasja Schunk, a finalist in the junior women's class at Wimbledon in the summer.

Former professional Rainer Schüttler sits on the bench as team captain.

Barbara Rittner, who was still in charge in 2014, has meanwhile risen to head women's tennis in the German Tennis Association (DTB).

What hasn't changed is the starting position of the German team.

Because in the preliminary group with the Czech Republic and Switzerland, the DTB selection goes as a blatant outsider.

Only the first one reaches the semi-finals, and the Czechs in particular are among the hottest title contenders.

They have won six of the past nine events of the Fed Cup.

Petkovic calls them the “FC Bayern of women's tennis” because they have had so many world-class players for years.

Kerber's season turned for the better

So it hardly matters that two of the top Czech players, Kvitová and Karolina Plíšková, canceled with reference to the high stress at the end of the season.

Finally there are French Open winner Barbora Krejčíková, number three in the world rankings, and Kateřina Siniaková, with whom she became Olympic champion in doubles in the summer.

On the other hand, Belinda Bencic stands out among the Swiss women, who won gold in singles in Tokyo and silver in doubles with Viktorija Golubic.

"We are in a comfortable situation," says Schüttler.

"We are not the hosts, we have no pressure." Nevertheless, he is sure "that we are dangerous".

Because Kerber and Petkovic - they have proven this this year - can still beat any opponent on good days. Kerber's season took a rather unexpected turn for the better after a win at their home tournament in Bad Homburg. She reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon and, thanks to strong results, recently climbed into the top ten of the world rankings for the first time in almost two years. 

Petkovic, on the other hand, who had already flirted with the end of her career several times, won another WTA tournament in Cluj in August after six and a half years.

The 33-year-old has found fun in tennis again.

It will depend on Kerber and Petkovic, because the rest of the team in Prague is all about gaining experience.

Two singles and one double are played per game.

If everything goes well, Petkovic and Kerber could then be in each other's arms again.

But this time for different reasons.