Svetlana Kuznetsova to Replace Maria Sharapova in Fed Cup Semifinals
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Apr 1, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark
Svetlana Kuznetsova has been called for up for Fed Cup duty in Russia’s semifinal tie against the United States.
Kuznetsova will replace Maria Sharapova, who flew to Israel in January for the opening round matches.
“We had an agreement with Kuznetsova and Sharapova that one of them would play against Israel and the other against the U.S,” said Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev.
“Sharapova had already played in Tel Aviv, so now it’s Kuznetsova’s turn. It was sort of a trade-off because both of them have very busy schedules. They have to juggle individual tournaments with the Fed Cup and it’s not easy as both Kuznetsova and Sharapova are also hoping to become the world number one this year.”
Tarpishchev has not announced the surface for the semifinals, but has hinted that he might choose clay - a surface favorable to the Russian squad.
“If we have Kuznetsova we’ll play on clay, with Sharapova it’ll be a hard court,” Tarpischev said in February.
“Of course, we can also make a last-minute switch depending on who the Americans will bring. If it’s the Williams sisters, almost certainly we’ll pick clay.”
Venus and Serena Williams have both confirmed that they will not be traveling to Russia, leaving Lindsay Davenport to helm the American squad.
Davenport is not a comfortable clay courter and has announced her decision to skip the upcoming Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
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