Maria Sharapova has been
named to the Russian Fed Cup team for the
upcoming competition, but given her history, there are probably those who will believe it only when they see it. Also named were Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina, Elena Vesnina, and Elena Likhovtseva. One of those will be eliminated, of course, and will presumably serve as the alternate.
Count me as one of that number. I've lost count of the times I've heard Sharapova say she was going to play Fed Cup over the past three years. I'll believe it when I see her on court - and not sitting on the bench as a practice partner.
ReplyDeleteLike I said in the article (thanks for the link!), she technically could still compete at the Olympics regardless of her participation in Israel, but would then be at the mercy of the Russian Tennis Federation.
For them it would be a catch-22: to leave Sharapova off would be pretty embarrassing, but it could provoke a firestorm among Kuznetsova, Chakvetadze, Dementieva, Petrova, and just about any other loyal Russian tennis player ranked high enough to go to Beijing.
Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze in one team.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.annachakvetadze.com