Turkmenistan Fed Cup team

Tennis began in Turkmenistan when it was a member of the Soviet Union, but it failed to grow due to its expensive and individual nature, meaning it was neglected financially by the government in favor of team sports.[7] However, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan began developing its tennis players and, although many of their best players ended up emigrating and changing citizenship, the sport continued to grow in the country with support of the government and it became a full member of the International Tennis Federation in 1993.[7] Ten years later, the first ITF tournament held in Turkmenistan was played as a Grade 5 junior event on during September 2003.[8] The girls' singles edition consisted entirely of Turkmenistani players, and was won by seventeen-year-old Ummarahmat Hummetova, who defeated Almira Hallyeva in the final.[8] Following this event, Hummetova ascended to the top seven-hundred junior singles rankings to become Turkmenistan's highest-ranked women's tennis player,[9] and Hallyeva, who won the doubles edition of the event, became the top doubles player alongside her partner Veronika Babayan.[10][11]

One year later, Turkmenistan entered its first ever Fed Cup tournament[1] as a team from the country partook in Group II of the 2004 Asia/Oceania Zone.[12] Their team consisted of Hummetova, Hallyeva, Babayan and Jenneta Halliyeva, who served as their playing captain.[13] They played in one single pool alongside Pacific Oceania, ranked No. 67, Kazakhstan, No. 72, Singapore, No. 77, and Syria, No. 95.[3][12] However, the team was ultimately unsuccessful, not winning a single set in their first three matches against Singapore, Pacific Oceania, and Kazakhstan.[13][14][15] Although they managed to win a match against Syria, with Hummetova and Babayan defeating Nivin Kezbari and Hazar Sidki in doubles,[16] they still finished last in the pool[12] and came into the rankings as equal No. 90 and finished the year ranked equal No. 91, only higher on the rankings than Eastern Caribbean and Kenya.[3]

Hummetova and Hallyeva then competed for Turkmenistan again the next year alongside fourteen-year-old[17] Inna Gavrilenko, with Halliyeva this time acting as a non-playing captain.[18] This time they played in a group comprising four teams: Uzbekistan (No. 53), Philippines (No. 64) and Syria (No. 79).[3][19] Although the team started well, managing their first singles win as Hummetova defeated Sidki in straight sets,[18] they once again ended up performing poorly, losing to the Syrians 1–2 and only managing to win four[20] and two games[21] respectively against Philippines and Uzbekistan.[19] This led to the team finishing the year ranked No. 92, lower than every other team in the ITF.[3]

Turkmenistan did not return to Fed Cup competition in 2006 or 2007,[1] but it was during this period that Anastasiya Prenko,[6] Marina Lidiya[22] and Ayna Ereshova[23] all played in their first tournaments in the ITF junior circuit. Prenko in particular achieved significant success, reaching quarterfinals of Grade 4 tournaments in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in both singles and doubles,[6] and in early 2008 managing a quarterfinal finish at a Grade 3 singles tournament in India.[24]

Following these good results, Prenko was picked for the Turkmenistan Fed Cup team,[25] which had selected to partake in competition in 2008.[26] Joining her in the team was Lidiya, Ummarahmat Hummetova and Jenneta Halliyeva, with Ashgabat tennis tournament director[27] and captain of the Turkmenistan Davis Cup[28] Gulcha Byashimov to act as the team's captain.[29] They were placed in Group II, Pool B alongside Kazakhstan (No. 50), Singapore (No. 60) and the unranked Sri Lanka.[3][30] Although they began competition poorly, losing to the Kazakhs 0–3 and Prenko and Hummetova sustaining a double bagel loss in doubles,[29][31] they managed to win a rubber in a 1–2 loss against Singapore after Prenko defeated Carolyn Ann Lim Hui, 6–1, 6–2,[32] and they defeated Sri Lanka 2–1 after Prenko achieved another straight sets singles win over Amreetha Muttiah and a doubles win over Jithmie Jayawickrema and Mahesha Seneviratne alongside Halliyeva.[33][34] This led them to progress to the play-off for fifth place in the Group alongside Pool A's third-place finisher Syria.[30] Lidiya lost the first rubber to Kim Sadi, but Prenko delivered again for the team by beating Line al-Ghannam in singles and Lara Alsamman and Ranim Mkahal in doubles once again with Halliyeva.[35] This led to a fifth-place finish for the Turkmens,[30] the first time they placed above last place in Group II, and caused their ranking to ascend over twenty places to No. 69.[3]

Following this and other successes, Prenko was recognised by various publications of Turkmenistan's biggest tennis star.[7][36] However, despite the recent achievements of the Fed Cup team, and the fact that they were originally selected to play,[37] the team took another break from competition in 2009[1] and 2010.[38] During this period, Amangul Mollayeva[39] and Guljahan Kadyrova[40] both joined the junior circuit and Prenko reached her highest pro circuit singles ranking of No. 536.[6]

However, Turkmenistan returned to Fed Cup in 2011,[41] ranked No. 81,[3] with Prenko, the WTA single No. 765,[42] leading the team with Halliyeva, Mollayeva and Ereshova also competing and Byashimov acting once again as captain.[43] The team was placed in Pool B in the ground, alongside Hong Kong (No. 50), Singapore (No. 67) and Fed Cup first-timers[44] Oman.[3][45] They played against Hong Kong in their opening tie,[42][46] and were soundly defeated winning no games across the two singles rubbers and three games in the doubles rubber.[46] Nevertheless, the team managed to make a clear win over Oman, Halliyeva easily defeating Maliha Al-Awaidy, Prenko managed to make a comeback to upset Fatma Al Nabhani, despite being ranked three hundred places below her on the pro circuit,[47] and Ereshova and Mollayeva finished off the tie by winning the doubles rubber.[48][49] The Turkmens then lost to Singapore, 1–2, by losing both singles matches,[50] but their performance was still enough for them to qualify for the fifth-place play-off, with their Pool A equivalent Pakistan.[45] Mollayeva lost the first match against the Pakistani Ushna Suhail, but Prenko delivered for the Turkmens once more by defeating Sarah Mahboob Khan in singles, and with Suhail in doubles alongside Halliyeva.[51] This allowed another fifth-place finish for Turkmenistan,[45][51] and caused their rank to ascend to No. 73, their highest at the time since initiation.[3]

Turkmenistan then returned to Fed Cup in 2012,[52][53] where they were placed in Pool B alongside Philippines (No. 59), India (No. 61), Oman (No. 82) and Iran (No. 91)[3][54] Following their previous successes, they were ranked No. 72 at the time of competition and thus were the middle-ranked team of the pool.[3][54] Prenko returned to competition, alongside Halliyeva, Hummetova and junior newcomer Guljan Muhammetkuliyeva.[55] Byashimov also returned as captain.[55]

The team was drawn to play the Omani in the first day,[54] in which Halliyeva easily defeated Al-Awaidy, Prenko was handily defeated by Al Nabhani, and Halliyeva and Prenko came back from a set down to win the deciding doubles rubber.[56] Turkmenistan was then handily defeated by India,[57] winning only six games across the three rubbers,[58] and narrowly fell to Philippines 1–2 with Hummetova suffering a double bagel to Tamitha Nguyen and Prenko and Halliyeva losing in doubles, despite Prenko managing to win against Anna Clarice Patrimonio in three sets.[59] Turkmenistan then finished their pool strongly, managing their easiest Fed Cup win since initiation[1] by defeating the Iranians whilst only dropping six games.[60] This caused Turkmenistan to place third in their pool,[54] and be drawn against Singapore for their fifth-place play-off.[61] Despite losing their previous three meetings with the Singaporeans,[62] they managed to win their tie fairly easily,[54] winning all three rubbers in straight sets,[63] to once again claim fifth place in the Group.[56] These good results were, relative to the number of ties, Turkmenistan's best ever in a year since initiation,[1] and caused their ranking to ascend once again to No. 63.[3]

Turkmenistan selected to play Fed Cup again in 2013,[64] the first time they competed in women's team tennis for three consecutive years.[1] Prenko and Halliyeva were selected once again for competition,[65] with Maya Mammetguykyyeva and ITF junior circuit newcomer[4] and promising young player[66] Jahana Bayramova both making a debut.[65] Mammetguykyyeva, however, was later replaced by Guljahan Kadryova.[67] Gulchan Byashimov did not return this year as captain; he was replaced with veteran coach[7][66] Nelli Voynich.[65][67] They were placed in Pool A with Hong Kong (No. 47), New Zealand (No. 59), Singapore (No. 71) and first-timers[68] Vietnam.[3][67]

The team started horribly against Hong Kong, Bayramova losing in a double bagel singles rubber to Wu Ho-ching and Eudice Chong and Katherine Ip in doubles with Halliyeva.[4] Prenko, the only player to put up any resistance to the Hong Kongers, also fell to Venise Chan despite winning the first set.[69] Bayramova continued her poor run by losing to Singapore's Geraldine Ang, though Prenko performed to allow Turkmenistan to win the tie by beating Rheeya Doshi in singles and clenching the doubles rubber.[70][71] Those two rubbers would be last that Turkmenistan would win in the pool, however, as they went down disastrously to New Zealand despite the Kiwis missing their top player due to injury,[72] with Kadyrova and Bayramova not being able to win a game in singles over Emma Hayman and Emily Fanning,[73] and the team suffering a defeat by the Vietnamese after Trần Thị Tâm Hảo and Huỳnh Phương Đài Trang beat Bayramova and Prenko in singles.[74][75] This led to Turkmenistan coming in fourth in the pool,[67] the first time they had placed so low since 2005.[1] Nevertheless, they managed to reclaim some glory in the seventh-place play-off by winning over Kyrgyzstan, 3–0,[76][77] with Bayramova claiming her first Fed Cup singles win over Arina Beliaeva,[4] Prenko defeating Bermet Duvanaeva,[77] and the two coming together to easily win the doubles rubber, 6–1, 6–1.[76] Despite only making seventh place in the Group this year,[76] they still managed to ascend the rankings once again coming in at No. 57.[3]