The Russian team for the Fed Cup final versus Italy will feature players that are ranked outside of the world’s top 135.
The European nation features top tennis stars such as Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Kirilenko and many others but these top players won’t be featured in the upcoming final which takes place from November 2 to 3 in Cagliari, Sardinia.
The highest-ranked player in the squad is Alexandra Panova, ranked 138th in the world. She will be joined by Irina Khromacheva (ranked 231st), Margarita Gasparyan (ranked 317th) and former top 20 player Alisa Kleybanova (currently tanked 186th).
Sharapova is currently out due to right shoulder injury while two-time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova opted out due to personal reasons. Meanwhile, Maria Kirilenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina, familiar faces in Fed Cup competition, have opted out in favor of the Tournament of Championships where they have qualified for winning at least one International-level title for the season.
Meanwhile, Team Italy features a very strong field including world number seven Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, Karin Knapp and Flavia Pennetta. All of the four players are ranked within the world’s top 50.
“We practically have no chance to win the title,” Team Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev was quoted as saying. “We are going not to win but to warm up our young players.
