Only three women from the top ten will take part in the first round of the Fed Cup — Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze; they are all representatives of Russia.
Why won’t the other highly ranked players compete in the Fed Cup?
- Top-ranked Justine Henin of Belgium wants to have enough time to prepare for the clay-season, as well as to treat her breathing problems. Her next tournament will be Warsaw, starting April 30.
- Maria Sharapova, Russia’s highest-ranked player, won’t make her Fed Cup debut because of injured shoulder and hamstring.
- France’s Amelie Mauresmo is recovering from her appendectomy.
- Kim Clijsters, another Belgian top player, decided to skip the Fed Cup because of her busy schedule.
- Countries of Martina Hingis (Switzerland), Nicole Vaidisova (the Czech Republic) and Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) are not in the World Group.
