The United States are the most successful nation in Fed Cup history, but events of the last decade have firmly shifted the balance of the competition towards the European direction. The Fed Cup has resided in Europe since 2001, when Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters inspired Belgium to success. The major storyline of the last ten years was the emergence of the Russians, who captured the biggest prize in women’s team tennis four times in a furious raid between 2004 and 2008; but running them close with three titles have been the Italians and their unexpected surge. Two of Italy’s three titles have come at the expense of the United States, whom they defeated in back-to-back finals in 2009 and 2010. Francesca Schiavone and her Italian cohorts have worked their way to the top of the ITF Fed Cup rankings.

It is therefore no surprise that the most decorated teams…