Sharapova keen to play for Russia in Fed Cup

MOSCOW—World number one Maria Sharapova said on Monday she wanted to play for Russia in the Fed Cup at some point in the future. The Florida-based 18-year-old has turned down invitations to play for the country of her birth in the past in order to concentrate on improving her singles ranking.
Addressing reporters before the opening of the Kremlin Cup, Sharapova said: “I want to play for Russia, I definitely want to play for Russia in Fed Cup competition. “I just don’t know when I’ll be ready to make my Fed Cup debut”.
Russia have won the women’s team competition for the last two years without Sharapova’s help. Last year she was involved in a public squabble with Anastasia Myskina, who led Russia to their 2004 Fed Cup win. Myskina has hinted that she might no longer play Fed Cup.
Asked how she felt when Russia clinched their second Fed Cup title by edging France 3-2 in last month’s final in Paris, Sharapova said: “I would just say to the girls ‘Well done’. “I didn’t play (Fed Cup) this year because it would have been too tough for me but in the future, yes, it’s definitely one of my big goals.
“I also want to play in the Olympics and would love to represent Russia there as well,” she added. Sharapova did not get a chance to play at last year’s Athens Olympics despite winning the Wimbledon title a month earlier because she was not ranked high enough at the time.
A maximum of four players from a single country are allowed to play in the Olympics and Sharapova was not among Russia’s top four when the selection was made. Sharapova, who left Russia 11 years ago with her father to pursue her tennis career in the United States, arrived in Moscow last week and will make her Kremlin Cup debut on Wednesday.
“I definitely feel Russian inside, even when I’m in America I feel Russian,” she said. “But coming here for the first time in years it made me feel even more so”. Sharapova faced a barrage of questions during her first news conference in the Russian capital, with reporters quizzing her on everything from boyfriends to what dress she would wear at her private party at a smart hotel later on Monday. But the teenager played her cards close to her chest.—Agencies