The ITF announced that tickets for the 2012 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Czech Republic and Serbia in Prague sold out in six hours on Monday. The Final will be played indoors at the O2 Arena on November 3-4, 2012, with a seating capacity of 13,000 each day.
Tickets were put on sale by the Czech Tennis Association at 10:00 on Monday September 24, 2012, with all available tickets sold by 16:00 the same day.
The Czech team will be led by former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who will be bidding to lead her team to its second successive Fed Cup title, having defeated Russia 3-2 in the 2011 Final in Moscow. Kvitova said: “My wish was to play in a sold-out arena, but I did not expect that it would sell out in one day. It’s like when the NHL hockey star Jaromir Jagr plays in Prague. I’m looking forward to hearing all our fans. My father ordered more than 100 tickets himself.“
Serbia will be led by former world No. 1 stars Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic as they attempt to follow in the footsteps of their male counterparts, who captured the 2010 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title. It is the first meeting between the two teams as independent nations.
This will be the first ever Fed Cup tie to be played at the O2 Arena, although the multi-purpose venue has hosted Davis Cup ties, including the 2012 quarterfinal between the same two nations in April.
The O2 Arena was built in time to stage the World Ice Hockey Championships in 2004 and has since held major sporting events for ice hockey, basketball and floorball. The venue has also welcomed some of the world’s biggest music acts, including Elton John, Coldplay and Lady Gaga.