The Turkmenistan Fed Cup team represents Turkmenistan in international women's tennis and is directed by the Turkmenistan Tennis Association. The team played in the first ever tournament in 2004, and five occasions since. Prior to 1993, Turkmenistani players competed for the Soviet Union.
The team has achieved very few feats in competition, particularly in their early history. During their first two years, they only managed to win two rubbers in seven ties. In recent times, they have managed to gather more success, winning at least two ties per year since 2011. Nevertheless, they still compete in Asia/Oceania Group II, the lowest level of competition for teams from the Asian Tennis Federation. As of 2013 they have a 9–16 win–loss ratio.
Nelli Voynich is their captain, having been in that position since 2013. Anastasiya Prenko holds the record for most singles wins, doubles wins, and total wins, while sharing the record with Jenneta Halliyeva for most ties partaken in. As of April 2013, the team is ranked No. 53 in women's team tennis by the International Tennis Federation, their highest ranking since initiation.
Current team
History
Early history
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. 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. Ten years later, the first ITF tournament held in Turkmenistan was played as a Grade 5 junior event on during September 2003. 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. Following this event, Hummetova ascended to the top seven-hundred junior singles rankings to become Turkmenistan's highest-ranked women's tennis player, and Hallyeva, who won the doubles edition of the event, became the top doubles player alongside her partner Veronika Babayan.
One year later, Turkmenistan entered its first ever Fed Cup tournament as a team from the country partook in Group II of the 2004 Asia/Oceania Zone. Their team consisted of Hummetova, Hallyeva, Babayan and Jenneta Halliyeva, who served as their playing captain. They played in one single pool alongside Pacific Oceania, ranked No. 67, Kazakhstan, No. 72, Singapore, No. 77, and Syria, No. 95. However, the team was ultimately unsuccessful, not winning a single set in their first three matches against Singapore, Pacific Oceania, and Kazakhstan. Although they managed to win a match against Syria, with Hummetova and Babayan defeating Nivin Kezbari and Hazar Sidki in doubles, they still finished last in the pool 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.
Hummetova and Hallyeva then competed for Turkmenistan again the next year alongside fourteen-year-old Inna Gavrilenko, with Halliyeva this time acting as a non-playing captain. This time they played in a group comprising four teams: Uzbekistan (No. 53), Philippines (No. 64) and Syria (No. 79). Although the team started well, managing their first singles win as Hummetova defeated Sidki in straight sets, they once again ended up performing poorly, losing to the Syrians 1–2 and only managing to win four and two games respectively against Philippines and Uzbekistan. This led to the team finishing the year ranked No. 92, lower than every other team in the ITF.
2006–2012: Break in competition and Group II gains
Turkmenistan did not return to Fed Cup competition in 2006 or 2007, but it was during this period that Anastasiya Prenko, Marina Lidiya and Ayna Ereshova 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, and in early 2008 managing a quarterfinal finish at a Grade 3 singles tournament in India.