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Sharapova out of Russian team
01/04/2008 17:35 - (SA)
Moscow - Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova won't play for Russia in the Fed Cup semi-finals against the United States this month as part of an agreement with Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The fourth-ranked Kuznetsova will instead lead Russia in the best-of-five semi-final series in Moscow on April 26-27. The fifth-ranked Sharapova played her first Fed Cup matches against Israel in February.
"We had an agreement with Kuznetsova and Sharapova that one of them would play against Israel and the other against the US," Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev said on Tuesday. "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 No 1 this year."
Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina are also on the Russian team, while Elena Dementieva could be a late addition.
Russia is bidding for its second straight Fed Cup title and its fourth in five years.
Sharapova withdrew from the current Sony Ericsson Open in Florida because of a shoulder injury. Her 18-match winning streak was ended by Kuznetsova at the Pacific Life Open on March 21.
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Rugby
