Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova committed herself
Saturday to making her belated Fed Cup debut for Russia next
weekend.
The 20-year-old will spearhead the opening round of Russia's Fed
Cup defense away to Israel in the February 2-3 World Group tie.
Having lived in Florida since the age of seven while pursuing a
tennis career, her commitment to Russia has often been
questioned.
But she said it was only injuries and illness that had stopped
her from playing in the teams event much earlier.
"Fingers crossed this will be the first time after a Grand Slam
that I don't get sick or injured," she said after beating Ana
Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3.
"I'm so excited about the opportunity (of playing in the Fed
Cup)."
Sharapova denied she had a rocky relationship with other Russian
women's players, who she will join in Israel.
Russia's Anna Chakvetadze questioned why Sharapova attended the
Fed Cup final in Moscow last year when she had declared herself
unavailable to play because of injury, but she denied suggestions
she was unpopular with teammates.
"The majority of us have a wonderful relationship. We do," she
said.
"I don't know what you saw, but we all went to team dinners.
Yeah, I do. I have really good relationships.
"I couldn't play (in the final) but the captain asked me to come
there and support them, and that's the least I could do."
And she insisted she was still proud of her Russian
heritage.
"If I didn't have this career, I'd probably be back home in
Russia in college right now, like one of my friends that I grew up
with back there," she said.
King inspired victory
Sharapova said tennis great Billie Jean King inspired her
Australian Open win with an encouraging text message ahead of her
final against Ana Ivanovic.
The Russian said the 12-time Grand Slam champion gave her a
simple piece of advice: "Champions take chances and pressure's a
privilege".
"I had those great words in my mind during the match," the
tournament fifth seed said after beating Serbian fourth seed
Ivanovic in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.
She said she was playing in a tournament at Roehampton in
Britain when King first approached her and offered encouraging
advice and the pair had kept in touch since, largely through text
messages.
"From that point on, she's just always been really supportive,"
she said.
"I actually don't see her that often but she's always one of the
first people to text me when either I'm having a tough moment or a
great win.
"It's wonderful because she's just done so much for the game and
is such a great supporter of the sport."
Sharapova, whose Australian win was her third Grand Slam title,
joked it would be tough to match King's record at the majors.
"I've got a long way to go to that," she said.
Ana vows to win Grand Slam
Ivanovic left Melbourne yesterday as the new world No 2, vowing
to win a Grand Slam and cement her place among the tennis
elite.
The 20-year-old leapfrogged Svetlana Kuznetsova in the rankings
after making the Australian Open final, where Sharapova beat her in
two tough sets.
Only Justine Henin stands between Ivanovic and the world No 1
spot and the Serbian is still getting used to being in the
Belgian's slipstream.
"I know I am close to winning a Grand Slam, and I belong to the
top group of players," she said on her blog on the WTA website.
"Only nine months ago I was ranked 16, and now I'm No 2. I am
proud of this achievement, but I'm still getting used to it."
(Agencies via China Daily January 28, 2008)