Svetlana Kuznetsova is skipping Fed Cup during the first part of 2007 and will instead focus her efforts on claiming the No. 1 ranking from Justine Henin.
It is an ambitious goal for Kuznetsova, who is currently almost 2500 ranking points behind Henin.
Henin also has the advantage because she is not defending any points until February after skipping the Australian summer season in 2007.
Her decision to forego the Fed Cup competition was relayed to the press by Russian team captain Shamil Tarpischev, who spoke with the Russian Kommersant.
According to the online daily, Kuznetsova “told team captain Shamil Tarpishchev that she will challenge Belgian Justine Henin for first place in the world and the Federation Cup match does not fit her schedule.”
Tarpischev is expected to replace Kuznetsova with Dinara Safina. Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze are also scheduled to participate in the first round against Israel.
