Spanish tennis player Vivi Ruano said on Tuesday that winning the Fed Cup would be the perfect end to the season for her.
The Fed Cup final will be held this weekend in Madrid between Spain and Russia and Ruano and her doubles partner Anabel Medina see it as the ideal way to end a year in which they also won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics.
"It is very important for us to play in Madrid in front of our fans. It is an honor to play here and we hope their help can help us," she told Spanish newspaper Diario AS.
The Russians will be without star players such as Maria Sharapova or Elena Dementieva, but Ruano believes it will still be a difficult task for the Spanish.
"Although we are at home, they have to be the favorites. They don't have Sharapova, (Dinara) Safina or Dementieva, but they still have (Svetlana) Kutnesova, who is the world number 4, in their team as well as (Vera) Zvonareva, who won bronze in Beijing," said Ruano, who was hoping some of the Olympic spirit would carry over into her own game.
"We hope to carry some of the joy of Beijing into this Fed Cup. If we win this it will be the perfect end to the season," she said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2008)