Krakow, Poland (SportsNetwork.com) – Australian Open runner-up and French Open
champion Maria Sharapova will play some singles tennis in this weekend’s Fed
Cup quarterfinal between her Russian squad and host Poland.
Saturday’s opening singles rubber will pit world No. 8 former Wimbledon
runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska against two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana
Kuznetsova, while the second match on Day 1 will have the world No. 2 former
top-ranked Sharapova taking on Radwanska’s younger sister, Urszula.
The five-time major champion Sharapova is 3-1 in her career Fed Cup singles
matches, including a win in her last appearance against Spain in 2012.
Sunday’s reverse singles have Sharapova battling Agnieszka Radwanska and
Kuznetsova facing Urszula Radwanska, while the potentially deciding doubles
rubber pits a Russian tandem of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vitalia
Diatchenko versus a Polish duo of Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Alicja Rosolska.
The Russians are captained by Anastasia Myskina, while Poland is guided by
Tomasz Wiktorowski.
The winner in Krakow will move on to face either Australia or Germany in a
semifinal in April.
The four-time champion Russians and Poland have never met in Fed Cup play.
